If an arrest is made without probable cause to believe there was an actual crime committed or the proper legal authority such as from a warrant, that is false arrest.
Tupelo, MS – Police officers are given the difficult job of having to deal with the consequences of crime and interact with dangerous people. While most times there are legitimate reasons for them to detain people or use force to protect others, there have also been many incidents where police abuse the authority that they are granted by the government to harm individuals. Any illegitimate use of government authority to harm a person is legally actionable under various civil rights laws. Here are a few ways that police routinely commit these kinds of civil rights violations.
Unnecessary use of force
The typical incident of police brutality is a situation where officers use force in a situation where it is not necessary to defend themselves or other people nearby. This often includes behaviors such as beating suspects while they are already detained, or using firearms and deadly force when a person poses no serious immediate threat. Police officers receive training regarding when force can be used for the purposes of protecting people and property, which means that they can be held accountable for deviations from these standards.
False arrests
An arrest has consequences that can cause damage to a person’s reputation, loss of employment, and other issues. Police departments can potentially make mistakes, and sometimes a person is arrested for no reason at all. This can be due to a legitimate error, or there are times when officers try to abuse their authority against people that they may not like for various reasons. If an arrest is made without probable cause to believe there was an actual crime committed or the proper legal authority such as from a warrant, the victim may be able to make a claim for false arrest against the department or city and sue the police for damages related to their losses.
Violations of the Fourth Amendment
The U.S. Constitution gives individuals the right to be free from government intrusions into their personal spaces. As a general rule, the police can only do things like conduct a search of a home or seize a person’s property if a neutral judge has a reason to believe this needs to be done to prevent crime or prosecute an individual who has already engaged in criminal activities. If the police bypass this requirement, they may end up in court facing a civil rights lawsuit for an illegal search or seizure that was conducted in violation of the protections in The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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