Archive for the ‘Police Misconduct & Brutality’ Category

False Arrest and Police Misconduct in New York happen way too often and are on the rise. Sometimes the incidents, even when caught on video, can leave room for doubt. However the latest Police Corruption and Misconduct case in Florida show some egregious acts.

Four Hollywood Police Officers are caught on tape framing a woman for drunk driving. After an officer failed to stop before rear ending the woman, they tried to cover it up.

As Reported by Janie Smith of NBC

Throughout the tape, the cops acknowledged what they are doing is illegal, but when you are the law, there is nothing wrong with bending it for a fellow cop, one says. “I don’t lie and make things up ever because it’s wrong, but if I need to bend it a little bit to protect a cop, I’ll do it,” Pressley tells Francisco after reassuring him no one will ever find out. “She’s freaking hammered anyway.”

Now, not only are the police under intense scrutiny, every single DUI arrest by the officers is under scrutiny.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JXHduw6Jd4&hl=en&fs=1&]

What, exactly, is “police brutality”?  When can you bring a lawsuit for “police brutality”?

It is often the case that when a person is arrested police officers use varying amounts of physical force to restrain the person arrested.  Guidelines issued to virtually all police allow different amounts of force under different situations.  Generally speaking, an arrest should be accomplished without harm, if possible, to the person arrested.  If, however, there is a “reasonable” belief that the person to be arrested is about to harm the police officer making or assisting in the arrest, or harm some bystander, or may even cause serious injury to himself, then the officer or officers can use an “appropriate” amount of force to avoid or mitigate such an outcome.

Any force used in excess of that amount of force deemed “reasonable” under the particular circumstances of a situation is called “excessive force”.  “Excessive Force” can be the basis of a lawsuit.

It is very important to realize that a person may have a valid lawsuit for “Excessive Force” even though the arrest was perfectly legal.  The issue of whether a “false arrest” was involved is a separate issue entirely!  The issue of whether there was “excessive force” used by a police officer can be considered whether or not the arrest itself is later determined to be legal.  Likewise, even if excessive force was used, that does not make an otherwise legal arrest illegal.

And who decides whether the force used in an arrest was reasonable or not, and therefore “excessive” or not?  Ultimately it is the “finder of fact” – either judge or jury, depending on the circumstances.   Often, with the availability of witnesses, or nowadays, videos, or just through the severity of the injury sustained by the person arrested, the answer as to “reasonableness” becomes clear.

This is certainly an area that requires an attorney with extensive “Police Misconduct” experience since the line between “reasonable” and “excessive” force can be a very fine distinction.

This is a very interesting and sad New York Wrongful Death / Personal Injury Case.

In February of this year another NYPD misconduct case was brought to trail.

One officer admitted that he saw his partner assault the victim and this still was not enough to convict.

“A New York City police officer accused of sodomizing a man with a police baton in a subway station was acquitted today of all charges — despite the testimony of a fellow cop who said he witnessed the assault.

Two other officers were found not guilty of covering up the alleged assault on body-piercer Michael Mineo, who said Officer Richard Kern assaulted him with a baton after catching him smoking marijuana inside a Brooklyn subway station.

Mineo, who is suing the city for $440 million, said he was resigned to the decision. “I kind of had a feeling it was going to turn out this way,” he said. “If you want to commit a murder, join the NYPD.”

The trial failed to elicit the public outrage that past police brutality trials have produced in New York City. “

When considering a lawsuit, the injured party should find a competent Personal Injury Attorney, and also look for one that has a long history of dealing with police misconduct and abuse, including cases involving excessive force & false arrest. Contact on of our experienced personal injury attorneys at The Orlow Firm today.

Source: AOL News

The New York City Police Department was faced with a tragedy recently.  An off-duty police office, chasing an individual he had witnessed attempting to break into his car, was shot and killed by a fellow police officer.  The off-duty officer, Omar J. Edwards, was chasing the suspect, gun in hand.  The on-duty officer, witnessing an unknown man with a gun running, identified himself and told the as yet unidentified off-duty officer not to move.   The off-duty officer, probably as an automatic reflex, turned towards the on-duty officer who, fearing for his life since a gun was now pointed in his direction, fired his weapon at the off-duty officer, killing him.  A difficult, tense situation leading to a tragic result.

We are told that police officers train for this event both during the initial Police Academy training and in follow-up training courses.  The officers are taught to overcome instinct and not to turn around despite an almost automatic reflex to do so, when confronted with a situation such as occurred in this case.

QUESTION: When police see a person with an object in their hand that they suspect may be a weapon, and they demand that person “STOP”, is it not natural to assume that a civilian will also have that same instinct to turn around?

What training, exactly, do police officers get to prevent the mistaken killing of civilians?    We see special training given to police officers to avoid becoming the target of mistaken shootings.  Is it not clear that civilians, without any training, are much more likely to be the victims of mistaken shootings since they receive no training whatsoever.

The life of every human being is precious, and it is essential that the training provided to police officers must be substantially improved to prevent ALL forms of mistaken shootings.  Too often we have witnessed tragedies that, with proper and repeated training, could probably have avoided an enormous amount of suffering for all the people involved in these tragedies.

Posted by New York Injury Lawyer, Steve Orlow

It is truly unfortunate whenever those sworn to uphold the laws upon which our society is based proceed to violate those very same laws. It was our founding father, John Adams, who first stated the now often heard truism that the United States is “a nation of laws, not of men”. That regardless of a person’s station in life, the laws apply to each and every individual.
As Mayor Bloomberg says in the accompanying video on a recent post about the NYPD officer who killed the minister’s Daughter crossing the street, it is precisely because of the trust and responsibility we assign to police officers in our society, that they are to be held to an even higher standard than others. To be so very irresponsible as to become intoxicated, and then get behind the wheel of a car, flies directly in the face of the standards we must set for someone who walks among us with a badge and a loaded weapon !

Official proceedings to remove Anthony Abbate from the Chicago Police Department began this week.

On Monday, Novermber 16, city attorneys aired lengthy recordings to highlight how the events unfolded at Jesse’s Short Stop Inn on the afternoon and evening of Feb. 19, 2007. During two visits to the Northwest Side bar, Abbate consumed large quantities of alcohol and continuously harassed and physically abused the bartender, Karolina Obrycka, and patrons according to the attorneys and the charges filed against him by Police Superintendent Jody Weis. Tuesdays proceedings started with the airing of a 30 minutes video showing the officer showboating and harassing patrons of a Northwest Side bar before he turns on the bartender, beating and kicking her Abbate was already convicted in criminal court for the felony aggravated battery of Obrycka and now faces dismissal from the department before the Chicago Police Board.

He continuiously invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at least 75 times during questioning by city attorney Anna L. D’Ascenzo,

who repeatedly asked Abbate to identify himself on the recording. Obrycka took the stand and watched the video that shows her being punched, beaten, pushed and yanked by the hair by the 13-year officer. “I heard him say, ‘Nobody will tell me what to do,’ ” Obrycka said. “I believe the only thing I said…I said, ‘Stop.’ “Michael Malatesta, Abbate’s attorney, called the hearing a formality, considering that Abbate cannot serve as a police officer with a felony conviction. “There is no getting around it,” he said.

As one of a handful of law firms in New York City representing victims of police misconduct, Orlow, Orlow and Orlow, P.C. has extensive experience helping victims of:

* Police Brutality and Prison Guard Abuse

* False Arrest

* All other types of police misconduct.

Many complaints of police misconduct are ignored.

They are frequently brushed off as if the person must be lying or somehow deserves his or her fate by having been involved with the police in the first place. If you are a victim of police misconduct, it’s important to contact a lawyer immediately. You may only have ninety days to file an action against the police department.

Source: chicagotribune.com

NYPD Subject Record Number of People to  “STOP  &  FRISK” in 2008

In 2008 over half a million people in New York City were subjected to “STOP &  FRISK” by  New York City Police Department officers – that is over 500,000 individuals !  It is an all time record.   There are not many cities in the United States whose entire population reaches that number.

Similarly, the number of complaints the CCRB (Civil Complaint Review Board) expects to receive in 2009 is over 8,200.  This, too, is a record, and matches the increasing number of “STOP & FRISKS” that are taking place.

The job of the CCRB is to investigate complaints that usually deal with everything from Police Officers using obscenity to their use of excessive force and false arrests.  If charges are substantiated by the CCRB, then the matter is referred to the Police Department for further possible disciplinary action against the offending police officer.

Stop and Frisks on the Rise along with Complaints but NYPD disciplinary action Declining

Now here is the strange fact: While the number of “STOP & FRISKS” and complaints to the CCRB have been rising dramatically, the number of cases that the Police Department has decided to prosecute, after receiving them from the CCRB, have been drastically reduced !   In 2005 the NYPD refused to prosecute 2% of the cases forwarded by the CCRB.  By 2008 the percentage of cases the NYPD refused to prosecute rose to 33%–and for 2009 the percentage of refusals to prosecute is currently at 40% !

Keep in mind that cases referred by the CCRB to the NYPD for prosecution are only those cases where the CCRB has substantiated some or all of the charges lodged by a civilian against a police officer.   Yet the percent of police officers against whom charges have been substantiated, that end up being disciplined by the NYPD, decreases.

An attorney experienced in handling POLICE MISCONDUCT cases is NEVER influenced solely by any action of either the CCRB or the NYPD.    A knowledgeable attorney will rely on his or her own experience and investigation to determine the merit of a client’s case.  Experience will tell an attorney that inaction, or lack of substantiation, by either the CCRB or the NYPD with respect to charges brought against a police officer is certainly not the final determinant as to whether a client’s case can be successful.

Arrest After the Search of a Vehicle
False Arrest and Probable Cause

Arizona  v.  Gant
U.S. Supreme Court–April 21, 2009

On April 21, 2009. the United States Supreme Court changed the rules which determine if there was “probable cause” sufficient to create a legal, as opposed to a “false”, arrest.

For all those drivers, or other vehicle occupants,  that are stopped in  vehicles for a traffic infraction, the rule for the past 28 years has allowed a police officer to search the car involved.   If the officer found evidence of a totally unrelated crime, such as an illegal drug or unlicensed weapon, then an arrest based on that evidence in the car would be legal.

That rule has now been tightened with Arizona vs Gant.

Under the new rules in Arizona vs Gant, a vehicle search will only be permitted under two conditions: if the person being arrested can reach into the car to grab a weapon or tamper with evidence the police offer reasonably believes to be in the car or, the police officer believes there is evidence in the car that is directly relevant to the crime for which the occupant was arrested .  Just arresting an occupant of a vehicle, by itself, is no longer grounds to permit a police search of a vehicle.

If, for example, a marijuana cigarette is found when the police search a vehicle after having stopped the vehicle because of an illegal turn, an arrest  based on that marijuana cigarette would no longer be deemed to be based on “probable cause” and the arrest based on the marijuana cigarette would not be legal.

It is, of course,more important than ever to discuss possibilities of  a “false arrest” with competent legal counsel.

As Reported by the New York Times,

“For the second time in five weeks, a New York City police officer has been arrested on charges of killing a pedestrian while driving drunk, this time in the Bronx, officials said on Friday.

Drana Nikac, 67, was killed.

The scene, Kingsbridge Avenue at West 232nd Street in the Bronx. It was the second recent fatality with a police officer at the wheel.

About 6:30 a.m., the police said, Detective Kevin C. Spellman, 42, a 22-year veteran of the Police Department, was driving south on Kingsbridge Avenue in his government sedan when he struck the woman, identified by relatives as Drana Nikac, 67, as she crossed the avenue near West 232nd Street in Kingsbridge.

Drunk Driving Accidents in New York should not be tolerated, especially by those that are commissioned with the protection of the citizens of New York. This is not only just an incident of Police Misconduct in NYC, this is seemd to be a further sign of a culture that seems accepting of shirking the responsibility to its citizens.  If you have been a victim of police misconduct or a drunk driving accident in New York, make sure to stand up for your rights and make your voice heard.  As citizens we have the responsibility to keep our protectors in check.