Category Archives: Police Misconduct
Confidential Informants Can Lead to Police Violence
Imagine that police, acting on a tip from a confidential informant, burst into a home, expecting to make a drug raid or stop illegal activity going on at the property. Police forcibly enter, only to be met by gunfire from the person (or people) inside. In the end, not only are officers dead, but… Read More »
Police are Often Untrained to Deal With the Mentally Disabled
When police arrive at a scene or encounter a suspect, they generally have warning signs that they look for to determine whether they are in danger. Many of those warning signs are common sense—for example, someone who waives their arms erratically or screams or moves when being told to remain stationary, may pose a… Read More »
First Amendment May Prohibit Police Agencies From Requiring Victim Confidentiality
In almost every type of injury case, including cases that involve police brutality, the police agency or government agency that settles your case will require that you sign a release. This is a document that generally says that whatever you have settled for is all that you are getting, and you are prohibited from… Read More »
Court Says Handcuffing 7-Year Old In School is Legal
Police brutality or misconduct is bad enough when an adult is the victim. But when the victims are young children, the wrongs by policy officers seem even worse. Earlier this year, a story of needless force by an officer on a child was found to be just fine by a court. Boy Handcuffed for… Read More »
Video Footage of Police Brutality Is Not Always Conclusive
With the rise of police brutality came more and more police departments requiring officers to wear body cameras. These small, portable cameras (many of which are also available for consumer purchase) were supposed to catch and record everything an officer says and does. The result would be a deterrent to officers overstepping their boundaries,… Read More »
Is it Police Brutality if the Police Don’t Cause Physical Harm?
On August 3, a man in Texas was arrested for criminal trespassing. What happened afterward became yet another example of police overstepping boundaries, and a good example of a potential case for emotional distress damages. Man is Publicly Humiliated At the time of the man’s arrest, only police mounted on horses were available. The… Read More »
Police Accidentally Record Themselves Conspiring Against Activist
In most cases, showing wrongful conduct by police officers involves some kind of circumstantial evidence. After all, showing retaliation, or bad intent, requires that we get into the head of the wrongdoer. Most law enforcement officers are not going to readily admit that they abused someone, or that they retaliated against them. However, in… Read More »
Supreme Court Makes Retaliatory Arrests Easier for Police
Imagine that you are exercising your right to free speech, and that speech happens to be something that is critical of law enforcement. Shortly after, you are mysteriously arrested, for a charge that you know is false. It becomes clear that your arrest was not because of anything you did that was illegal, but… Read More »
Police Misconduct is Often Protected by Qualified Immunity
Pretend for a moment that you are a victim of police brutality. Law enforcement has overstepped their bounds, used excessive force, and caused you serious injury. You are eventually released and never charged for whatever it was that you were arrested for. You file a lawsuit. Why won’t the city or the police department… Read More »
Siri Modification Raises Question of When You Can Legally Record Police
It seems like every day technology is interacting with the law. One of the biggest contributions technology has made to the field of protecting citizens from police misconduct is the ability to record immediately, on the go. In fact, many police departments are equipping their officers with small, portable body cameras. Siri Modifications A… Read More »
