Police Misconduct Attorney

According to Campaign Zero, between 2016 and 2018, SFPD used “less-lethal force” 73% more per arrest than other police departments in California, and used deadly force 57% more per arrest than other departments in the state. During the same time period, SFPD received 322 “use of force” complaints from civilians. In only 2% of those cases, did SFPD rule in favor of civilians.

San Diego Police Department (SDPD)

According to Campaign Zero, between 2016 and 2018, SDPD used so-called “less-lethal force” 93% more per arrest than other police departments in California, and used deadly force 41% more per arrest than other departments in the state. During the same time period, SDPD received more than 1,500 “use of force” complaints from civilians. On average, in only 2% of those cases did SDPD rule in favor of civilians.

Like many other police departments in major cities throughout the country, it is difficult for civilians to hold LAPD, SFPD and SDPD police officers accountable because the departments can disqualify complaints and give officers unfair access to information when complaints are filed.

Filing a civil action is one of the only ways to hold the department accountable, no small task considering police departments are protected by qualified immunity.

Police Use of Deadly Force

According to Campaign Zero, between 2016 and 2018, SFPD used “less-lethal force” 73% more per arrest than other police departments in California, and used deadly force 57% more per arrest than other departments in the state. During the same time period, SFPD received 322 “use of force” complaints from civilians. In only 2% of those cases, did SFPD rule in favor of civilians.

San Diego Police Department (SDPD)

According to Campaign Zero, between 2016 and 2018, SDPD used so-called “less-lethal force” 93% more per arrest than other police departments in California, and used deadly force 41% more per arrest than other departments in the state. During the same time period, SDPD received more than 1,500 “use of force” complaints from civilians. On average, in only 2% of those cases did SDPD rule in favor of civilians.

Like many other police departments in major cities throughout the country, it is difficult for civilians to hold LAPD, SFPD and SDPD police officers accountable because the departments can disqualify complaints and give officers unfair access to information when complaints are filed.

Filing a civil action is one of the only ways to hold the department accountable, no small task considering police departments are protected by qualified immunity.

Police Use of Deadly Force

According to Mapping Police Violence, 1,098 people were killed by police in 2019. Black people accounted for 24% of the total despite comprising only 13% of the population.

Some argue the militarization of policing is one of the reasons the use of deadly force continues to be a problem. In 1996, the U.S. passed a law that allowed the Department of Defense to provide surplus “military grade” equipment to police and sheriff’s departments. Since that law was passed, police and sheriff’s departments throughout the country have received military weapons and equipment worth billions, and that does not take into account the money spent from expansive police budgets throughout the country.

Police training has also embraced a militarized combat mentality, favoring an “us vs. them” perception in which cops are taught to apply a “warrior” philosophy. Dave Grossman, who gives hundreds of police training courses throughout the nation every year before thousands of police officers, coined the term “killology” and preaches “warrior policing” during his courses. Grossman’s goal is to train police officers to think and act like military soldiers prepared to kill at a moment’s notice, and to regard their community as territory occupied by insurgents.

Militarized policing – in which force is more often used as the first resort – disproportionately impacts Black communities. Jeronimo Janez, the police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile in 2019, attended a training session that Grossman co-taught.

A 2019 study conducted by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that police violence is a leading cause of death for young Black men in the United States. About one in every 1,000 Black men “can expect to be killed by the police,” the study says.

Carl Takei, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), notes that police violence is a leading cause of death for people of color because “over-policing of Black and Brown communities results in unnecessary police contacts and unnecessary use of force.”

Police Violence Can Involve the Use of ‘Non-Lethal’ or ‘Less-Lethal’ Weapons

Contrary to what the phrase implies, the use of “non-lethal” or “less-lethal” weapons can cause serious injuries and death. Police brutality and excessive force cases often involve the following:

• Police Batons: Swinging a baton can cause broken bones, broken teeth, fractured skulls, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and a host of other severe injuries.
• Tasers: The powerful electrical charge in police-issued tasers have the potential to kill. According to a study conducted by Reuters, the number of deaths stemming from law enforcement use of tasers disproportionately affects people of color. The study also notes that law enforcement officials often misuse tasers and lack safety training.
• Pepper Spray or Pepper Balls: Also known as “OC” spray (from the chemical name, oleoresin capsicum), pepper spray has been used as a crowd control measure during peaceful protests, or in situations where individuals are allegedly resisting arrest. While most injuries involving pepper spray are minor respiratory and skin issues, some people have suffered severe allergic reactions. A protestor in Omaha, Nebraska suffered permanent eye damage after being shot with a pepper ball projectile.
• Tear Gas: Like pepper spray, law enforcement officials use tear gas in crowd control situations. Inhaled tear gas can cause serious respiratory damage, especially for those with preexisting conditions. Heart rate and blood pressure can increase with exposure to tear gas, causing some people to experience heart attacks.
• Rubber Bullets: Police officers use rubber bullets during protests and other crowd control situations. Rubber bullets or other similar projectiles like bean bags are capable of breaking bones, causing skull fractures and other traumatic brain injuries, damaging internal organs, and inflicting painful eye injuries.
• Handcuffs: While handcuffs are not thought of as a weapon, many survivors of police violence have suffered serious injuries after being handcuffed and thrown to the ground or into a wall for allegedly resisting arrest. Some peaceful protestors have also been seriously injured when police officers cut off zip tie restraints with scissors and repeatedly cut the individual’s wrists and hands.
• Chokeholds: In the wake of chokeholds being used by law enforcement, a too frequent effect of which is to kill individuals such as Eric Garner, George Floyd and others, more and more police departments are banning the use of chokeholds. While banning this dangerous hold is a welcome step, it does not address the heart of the issue – which is militarized policing and systemic racism. Until the root of that evil is pulled out, police chokeholds will likely continue causing more serious injuries and death, especially among people of color. According to a Los Angeles Times analysis of California Department of Justice data, between 2016 and 2018, law enforcement officers in the state seriously injured 103 people while using carotid neck restraints (chokehold). Black and Latino people accounted for more than 60% of these incidents.

Holding Police Departments Accountable

If you or a loved one has been subjected to police brutality or misconduct, we are here to help you. It is our public duty to fight for justice on behalf of– and with – those affected by ongoing police aggression, to ensure that our clients are rightfully compensated and, importantly, to contribute to the fight of ending police violence and its underlying causes.

Call us at (855) 948-5098 today or contact us for a free and confidential case evaluation.