Police Misconduct

The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution states that “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” For a U.S. citizen, the Fifth Amendment guarantees freedom from excessive use of police force, warrant-less searches, false or unlawful arrest; and false imprisonment.

Although most police officers perform their duties in a law-abiding fashion, at times constitutional rights are violated. In worst case scenarios, police department corruption may result in contrivance of false charges to cover up bad arrests, police brutality that results in beatings or unnecessary shooting, codes of silence or refusals to testify against fellow officers, use of extreme threats and duress during suspect interrogation, and coercion of women into sexual acts.

In order for an arrest to be warranted, probable cause must exist, substantiated by facts and circumstances that demonstrate possible criminal activity. The police officer must believe that a crime either has been committed or is about to be committed in order to make an arrest.

Bodily restraint that is not authorized by law is considered false imprisonment, whether restrained on the street, in a police vehicle, at the police station, or in one’s own home. False accusations of resisting arrest or disorderly conduct are often accompanied by unlawful restraint.

We have years of experience in assisting individuals to stand up for their rights against police misconduct. At Drew, Cooper & Anding, our attorneys’ expertise in litigating police misconduct cases has resulted in numerous settlements, ranging from $50,000 to $750,000 for a particularly brutal beating which our client received from several police officers.