WHEN to use them/how to conduct yourself when approached by police. It doesn't take much these days for a simple stop to escalate into a confrontation ending in arrest and a trip to the hospital. Police deal with stressful, dangerous situations every day and some (not all) police find it too EASY to resort to the one thing they know brings a situation to a quick resolve....excessive force. Resisting arrest is where you are likely to be assaulted by the police and it is one of the most common charges police use to justify use of force. For whatever reason the police stop to question you, you should remain calm, listen to what they say and answer their questions as you deem appropriate. Allow them to handcuff you, don't resist. You have certain rights you can call upon at the time of the stop, but DON'T PROTEST if the police ignore your rights. They are the ones in control at the moment. Your best chance to defend and DEMAND your civil rights are AFTER the stop, in a COURT of law; and.....any kind of confrontation with the police, EVEN THOUGH YOU THINK YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT, can reduce your chance in civil court, if you don't cooperate and are arrested for resisting arrest. You see, depending on the reason the cops stop you, they can use escalating force to detain you if they have probable cause. The reason this police officer was fired for tasing poor Mr. Chavez, was because the stop was for a (possible) minor traffic violation, not for a possible felony level crime. The use of force was not equal to the infraction. Had the stop been probable cause for a suspected felony, then by law, the officer, had the right to tase Mr. Chavez for resisting arrest. The police have a right to stop you and ascertain whether you are the person of suspect or they are looking for. Give them a chance to do their inquiry, even though you know you are not the person they are looking for. Resisting falls into their trap and then the bad cops will beat the crap out of you, using excessive force. They usually get away with that because they have "qualified immunity" (using necessary force to accomplish they jobs) from prosecution. The most the police department can do with offending officers that exceed the use of (necessary) force, is to terminate them. Then it up to a DA to decide whether or not to press criminal charges and you also have the right to file a lawsuit for violation of your civil rights. You have to prove that you were falsely arrested and that the police used excessive force against you. If there is evidence that you resisted arrest, the attorney for the defendants in the suit will use that against you. Be wise, know your rights and WHEN to use them. This will help keep you safe(r) AND strengthen your case against abusive cops. The most egregious cases get the publicity, but according to studies conducted by the Justice Department, these cases are a small fraction of the millions of stops made by police annually. The problem is the laws give police a wide latitude on use of force and a lot of wiggle room. What we perceive as being outrageous, can fit within the confines of the law. It is suppose to protect good cops trying to do difficult, dangerous jobs, but it also protects the bad cops who know how to manipulate the law.
http://www.nyclu.org/node/3249
= new reply since forum marked as read
- The fish stinks from the head.....
- I suppose he should count himself lucky he was under surveillance. Like we all are all the time. It turns out that the proof that we live in a Police State is being provided by the Police State's own tapes of us. The irony abounds.
