Because of the expectations placed on the profession, and the mechanisms that legally allow officers to use force, it’s all too easy for police work to stray from the business of maintaining order into an unaccountable authoritarian culture. This culture prevents the overwhelmingly decent elements of the NYPD to report their fellow officers for crimes against citizens. According to some NYPD police brutality lawyers, internal investigations are frequently ineffectual, rarely leading to disciplinary action. Public mistrust of law enforcement increases, leading to further tension and additional burdens on the justice system.

Who is accountable for police misconduct?

Using experienced NYPD police brutality lawyers to file civil lawsuits against law enforcement agencies has often resulted in multi-million dollar payouts to victims and their families. It is an imperfect form of justice, as the city – rather than the officer in question – is usually responsible for settling, and such trials rarely result in procedural changes or address flawed policies or management. However, for most victims of New York police misconduct, a civil lawsuit is the only recourse available. Under Title 42 U.S. Code Section 1983 (the federal civil rights statute), citizens can file lawsuits against a police department, a jurisdiction, or a specific officer. Section 1983 mandates that: “Any person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, 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.”