Police Brutality

If you feel you were violated by police, or are a victim of police brutality, please contact our offices immediately. Most police officers are here to serve and protect the community. Their main duty is to maintain public order while making ethical decisions. The citizens of the United States give the law enforcement the power and authority to do what is necessary to protect us. We allow officers to carry guns to help protect and maintain order. This means sometimes exercising this power and using the guns as necessary and we trust our police force not to abuse this power. What happens when the trust is broken and the power and authority we gave to the police is being abused? There are times police officers will unethically overstep boundaries and break our trust by beating or even killing someone. What is worse is when law enforcement cover their tracks, lying under oath, or even frame others.

Our offices at Khashan law have successfully helped several clients receive justice and hold the officers accountable for overstepping their boundaries.

• Excessive force

  Claims involving excessive force usually draw the most publicity because the aftermath may involve serious injury or death. Determining if the officer’s use of force was reasonable depends on certain circumstances. Excessive force claims disregards the officer’s intention, whether or not they were good or bad.

• Malicious Prosecution

  Claims for malicious prosecution charges the officer of violating victims of their right to liberty in the Fourteenth Amendment. The victim must prove all four statements below:

• The officer involved initiated a criminal proceeding.
• The proceeding resulted in no conviction (the victim’s favor).
• No reasonable grounds for conducting a search, arrest, or seize property relating to an alleged crime.
• The proceeding involved malice directed towards the victim.
• Illegal arrest discrimination

The most common claim filed against law enforcement is false arrest. Victims involved claim police violated their Fourth Amendment right without sufficient facts to lead a reasonable person to believe a crime was committed.

What do you do if you are a witness to police authority conducting unethical behavior? By taking a stand and responding to police misconduct is an important and necessary step to protect yourself and the community from overstepping your rights. Here are the steps to address police brutality and misconduct.

• Write it down. This is an important step to write down everything that occured while it is still fresh in your memory. You may forget important details over time that would be substantial to winning your case. Write everything in your own words of exactly what happened, trying to use exact words during parts with dialogue. Include date, time, specific location of incident, any witnesses, officers involved, contact information, trying your best to avoid any inaccuracies in the story and only including facts.
• Consult with a lawyer from a reputable law firm. We recommend you consulting with a lawyer especially if you were arrested. It is recommended you consult with a law firm that specializes in police misconduct cases. A well-experienced attorney will help determine if your case is strong enough to pursue filing a lawsuit. If you followed step 1 to write the entire incident from start to finish in clear detail as accurately as you can, you may give you better leverage to pursuing the case. Proving police misconduct is a very difficult process and lawyers look for cases with strong evidence. If you cannot find one to take your case, proceed to next step.
• File a report. This step is crucial not to proceed towards unless all criminal charges have been resolved. Filing a misconduct/brutality report too soon may hurt your chances by revealing too much information regarding your case. If you are not charged with a crime and choose not to sue, file the report as soon as possible. This is where Step 1 comes in handy with your entire incident documented and ready to go.
• You can file a report by checking with your local city to be directed to the correct office. Some locations require a specific form to be filled out. Failure to do so may result in your case being automatically dismissed. Make sure you are aware of the correct process because it varies by jurisdiction. Make copies of your misconduct report for record before sending it in.

A lawyer with experience in fighting cases of police brutality and Police misconduct can help fight back against injustice and protect your constitutional human rights. Although there is no real way to undo the emotional or physical distress you may have experienced, it is important to let your story be heard to seek compensation and remedy your situation in efforts to help stop future police brutality and misconduct cases.

If you are a victim of police brutality in Murrieta or the surrounding area you have the right to file a claim and have Khashan Law, a well-experienced civil rights law firm to represent you. We support the police force but do not condone false imprisonment, excessive force, or other forms of abuse of power. We must make a stand together to put a stop to this and protect our rights as citizens of the United States. Together we can put an end to this. Call Khashan Law today for a free consultation with us. We are here to make things right.