Police Misconduct Lawyers

What is Police Misconduct?

Police Misconduct occurs when an officer violates someone's constitutional rights. This misconduct can subject the officer and the police department to both civil and criminal penalties.

• It is unlawful for an officer to engage in a pattern of conduct that deprives a person of their constitutional rights
  • You must be able to show that it is a pattern- one isolated incident is not sufficient to prove a civil violation
  • The court can grant you an injunction that requires the officer to stop the misconduct against you
• A police officer is prohibited from engaging in practices of discriminatory misconduct
  • Again you must show that there is a pattern of discriminatory misconduct, before you can bring a case
  • Examples of civil discriminatory misconduct include:
    • harassment
    • racial slurs
    • unjustified arrests
    • discriminatory traffic stops
    • coercive sexual conduct

• A law enforcement officer cannot deprive any person of his/her constitutional rights.
• There is no requirement that the police misconduct be done in a manner to discriminate
• Examples of criminal police misconduct include:
  • Using excessive force
  • Sexual assault
  • Intentional false arrest
  • Intentional fabrication of evidence

What to do if you think your rights were violated by the police:

• Always file a complaint first with the police department or internal affairs division. It is generally a requirement that you exhaust all of your administrative remedies first before bringing a lawsuit.
• After reporting to the police department, the next step is to report the misconduct to the United States Department of Justice or the United States Attorneys office
• After you have reported the violations, you then may be permitted to file a lawsuit in Court against the police department and/or their officers.

Vea esta página en español: Mala Conducta de la Policía o visita Abogados-Leyes.com para más información legal.