Communities should be attentive to local department’s illegal activities surrounding law enforcement and initiate formal complaints against them.
Chicago is the third largest city in the United States with a population of close to 3 million, where trust is eroding as police accountability seems to have disappeared in some situations. About 20 people gathered to express their outrage over the killing of Anthony Alvarez on March 31, 2021, when a Chicago police officer fatally shot him. The group was protesting the Chicago Police Board decision to suspend officer Evan Solano for 20 days for shooting Alvarez during a foot chase. COPA held that Solano broke six departmental rules, including disregarding his foot pursuit training and violating a general use of force order. Victims should seek counsel with a Chicago police brutality lawyer.
Police encounters and force
The incidence of excessive use of force is relatively low, when compared to the amount of police encounters taking place each day across the United States. Encounters that lead to unnecessary injury and citizen death have grabbed the National spotlight and forced the conversation that is causing so many peaceful and violent protests. Many officers disapprove of the use of excessive force, but a substantial minority of officers feel that they should be permitted to use more force than the law presently allows. Others agreed that following the rule of law is sometimes counter-productive to protecting communities they are sworn to serve. Victims of excessive force should contact a police brutality attorney in Chicago to see if they can take action against the negative encounter.
Citizen rights
Communities should be attentive to local department’s illegal activities surrounding law enforcement and initiate formal complaints against them. The color of law refers to an act performed under the appearance of legal authorization, when in fact, no such right existed. The term is used in the Federal Civil Rights Act, which gives citizens the right to sue government officials and their agents who use their authority to violate rights guaranteed by federal law and affirms:
“Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.”
Complaints should be sent to: Office of Professional Review, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, 3026 South California Building 2, Fourth Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60608-5110 or by calling (773) 674-7580.
Police misconduct
Police misconduct involves the violation of the civil rights of a person and often the violation of both State and Federal laws.
- Excessive Force – utilizing more physical force than necessary to subdue a criminal causing bodily harm or death. Once the situation is controlled, there is no longer the need for force.
- Sexual Abuse/Harassment – unwelcome sexual advances, requests or demands for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature by law enforcement in the course of their job.
- False Arrest and Wrongful Imprisonment – unlawful restraint of a person’s freedom of movement by another acting in perceived accordance with the law.
- Wrongful Search and Seizure Activity – protection from “unreasonable searches and seizures” notwithstanding probable cause enabling a search warrant.
- Racial and Gender Discrimination – bias-based policing is the intentional practice by an individual law enforcement officer who incorporates prejudicial judgments based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, religious beliefs, or age that are inappropriately applied in the performance of his/her duties.
Hire a lawyer
Victims of actions of police brutality should contact an Illinois lawyer at Kulis Law Offices to file reports with Cook County Sheriff’s Office or formally initiate litigation against negative activities and secure damages for pain and suffering and personal injury.
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