Oakland Police Misconduct Lawyers

The problem of police misconduct has received increasing amounts of national attention in recent years. It’s important to remember that this problem is not limited to a handful of high-profile cases that draw intense media focus. 

Lawyers for Police Misconduct

While it’s true that huge majorities of law enforcement officers are honest professionals, it’s also true that abuse of power is a reality. And when you’re the victim, hearing statistics about good officers isn’t going to make you feel better. What will help is a qualified and experienced police misconduct lawyer that will lead your fight for justice.

Haley Law Offices fights for people in Northern California. We’ve been fighting for over 65 years. Let our Oakland police misconduct attorneys fight for you. Call (510) 990-9290 or contact us online to book an appointment with a police brutality lawyer in California today. 

The Scope of the Problem

The National Police Misconduct Reporting Project, a study done by the Cato Institute, reported that 1 percent of all police officers will commit misconduct in any given year. When you consider that there are over 665,000 officers employed in the United States, that 1 percent can lead to quite a few incidents of misconduct. 

Police Brutality 

What’s more, while most police misconduct cases involve non-fatal encounters, there are still nearly 200 people who die every year in a confrontation with law enforcement. While the ultimate fault in each individual case is always for a court to decide, it is a fact that the California Innocence Project has documented horrific realities of police officers coercing confessions. 

First Amendment Rights Violations

The most common areas of police overreach occur in areas where people have constitutional protections that are enshrined in the Bill of Rights. When a police officer who retaliates against someone engaged in protected speech or peaceful protest, that is a violation of that person’s First Amendment Rights. 

Abuse of Authority

The Eighth Amendment protects a person from “cruel and unusual punishment”. While that language is subject to interpretation in specific cases, it’s fair to say that a person beaten up in their jail cell is seeing their rights violated. 

Illegal Search and Seizure

The Fourth Amendment protects all of us from “unreasonable search and seizures”. The language and practice of this Amendment is far-reaching. Police officers must have a warrant to search your property–including your digital property, like a cellphone or computer. 

Holding the Offenders Accountable

The police must meet standards like probable cause or reasonable suspicion before making an arrest or pulling someone over. This is an area where police officers may well overreach and need to be held accountable. 

An Oakland police misconduct lawyer from this office will do the hard work you need to seek out fair compensation for what happened to you. Call Haley Law Offices at (510) 990-9290 or contact us online today. 

The most common cases of police misconduct are Fourth Amendment violations, where people have much more protection than they may realize. 

Reasonable Suspicion

For example, an officer must have reasonable suspicion before doing something as simple as stopping a pedestrian on the sidewalk and frisking them for a gun. Reasonable suspicion is not a high legal bar to meet–it requires only that the officer’s suspicion be backed up by some reasonable facts and circumstances. However, race and ethnicity cannot be one of these facts and circumstances. Otherwise, the officer is guilty of racial profiling. 

Probable Cause

Before getting a search warrant the officer must have probable cause. This standard of proof is a little higher than reasonable suspicion, but certainly much lower than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard required to convict someone. Probable cause is also required before making an arrest. 

You Have Rights

What this means is that you have rights. You have the right to not be searched, or even stopped, unless an officer meets some very reasonable requirements first. The officer who does not do that can and should be held accountable. 

Law Enforcement Must Respect Your Constitutional Rights

Even if reasonable suspicion and probable cause do lead to an arrest, the police officer must respect your constitutional rights under the Eighth Amendment. The use of excessive force is a serious violation of that right. 

Any Physical Action Taken by an Offices Must be Necessary

It’s worth pointing out that the state of California passed legislation in 2021 aimed at restraining excessive violence in arrests. Whereas previous law only required that an officer act “reasonably under the circumstances'', the new law stipulates that any physical action taken by an officer be “necessary”. That’s a higher bar for the officer to demonstrate. What can seem like a minor change in statutory language can end up quite significant in the reality of police misconduct cases.