Philadelphia Police Misconduct Lawyers: The Many Forms Of Police Misconduct

The police force is supposed to consist of people that the citizens of the nation can trust. Unfortunately, some police officers do not practice true law, and they engage in activities that attorneys call misconduct. Each year, thousands of misconduct cases occur, and citizens have to fight uphill battles to implement justice from the very departments that are supposed to provide them with protection and honor. The following are some common examples of police misconduct:

Police Brutality and Excessive Force

The largest piece of the police misconduct pie exists in police brutality cases. Brutality cases are cases in which a police officer uses unnecessary force to detain or punish a defendant. Excessive force may include actions such as pistol whipping, kicking, shooting, punching or choking a defendant. More than 23 percent of the misconduct cases came from physical acts in 2010. Sadly, many of those cases resulted in the untimely death of a defendant.

False Arrests

False arrests are arrests that occur when the police officers do not have any proof of any wrongdoing on the defendant’s part. For example, a police officer may stop a random driver and issue that person with a drunk driving ticket without conducting a breathalyzer exam. Another example of a false arrest is a situation in which a police officer charges someone with a driving violation that did not occur. An officer can charge a person with a wide variety of false charges. False arrests accounted for more than 6 percent of misconduct cases in 2010.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is a devastating experience in any situation. The victim of a police officer’s sexual harassment has to suffer through feelings of violation on many levels. Sexual harassment by a police officer can come in the form of a subtle comment, or it can be as serious as graphic sexual comments, groping, requests for favors and rape. More than 10 percent of misconduct cases came from sexual harassment acts.

A victim of police misconduct cannot and should not try to fight the case alone. Such a situation requires the assistance of an experienced legal specialist. A misconduct case is an extremely sensitive case that only an attorney will know how to handle.

A compassionate attorney will offer the victim a free consultation so that he or she can assess the case’s potential. A free consultation is available so that the victim does not have to risk a thing.