Police Brutality Lawyers in Baltimore
Have you suffered physical or emotional injuries and financial losses due to police brutality or misconduct? Then you need knowledgeable, seasoned legal counsel to demand accountability for what you’ve gone through. You need a Baltimore police brutality lawyer to fight to recover the compensation and justice you deserve.
Since 1966, our firm has worked tirelessly to protect the rights and interests of victims of police brutality and misconduct throughout Maryland. When you hire us, we will do everything possible to make the law enforcement officers and agencies who engaged in wrongful conduct pay for their actions.
Contact Greenberg Law Offices for a free initial case evaluation, and let our family help your family.
Why You Should Hire a Baltimore Police Brutality Lawyer
Standing up to the police after becoming the victim of officer brutality or misconduct can feel stressful and isolating. However, you don’t have to face law enforcement or the criminal justice system alone to seek accountability for violating your rights. A Baltimore police brutality lawyer from Greenberg Law Offices can help you by:
- Investigating your case to obtain critical evidence, such as police records, bodycam footage, and eyewitness recordings/testimony
- Identifying the at-fault officers and documenting your injuries and losses
- Evaluating your legal options for seeking financial relief and accountability
- Filing your claims against the appropriate parties and vigorously advocating for a settlement that provides you the justice you deserve
- Taking your case to court and trial, if necessary, to hold the police and government officials responsible for individual misconduct or a culture that tolerates such behavior from officers sworn to uphold the law
What Compensation Could I Recover in a Police Brutality Claim?
In a lawsuit alleging police brutality or misconduct, you can pursue financial compensation and other relief from the court for the various kinds of harm or loss you’ve suffered. A police brutality award may compensate you for the following:
- Costs of medical treatment and physical rehabilitation for injuries caused by police brutality
- Costs of long-term disability care resulting from injuries, including home health services, wheelchairs, or other disability accommodations
- Lost wages/income from missed time from work while recovering from injuries or wrongfully detained by police
- Loss of future earning capacity after losing employment due to permanent disabilities or a wrongful arrest/conviction
- Physical pain and anguish
- Emotional trauma and distress
In some cases, victims of police brutality may also recover punitive damages if a jury finds that a police officer acted with “actual malice.” Punitive damages do not compensate for losses but punish the officers for their behavior and deter other officers and government agencies from similar conduct.
What Is Police Brutality?
Police brutality refers to an extreme, egregious form of police misconduct or violence that goes far beyond the scope of reasonable conduct by police officers, such that no reasonable officer would believe that the law permits such conduct. Police brutality can take the form of the following:
- Unjustified force, including using force to detain or arrest a cooperative, non-violent suspect
- Egregiously excessive force, such as using unapproved and dangerous, potentially fatal means of subduing unarmed suspects
- Retaliatory force, including deploying force against citizens exercising their rights, such as forcefully detaining people recording public police activities or deploying lethal or less-than-lethal force, such as tear gas, rubber bullets, bean bag projectiles, or tasers, against non-violent protestors
- Intentional harassment of suspects unconnected to legitimate police investigations
- Physical assaults of detainees/arrestees unable to protect themselves or resist due to their restraints
- Malicious property damage
- Using physical or mental coercion to obtain statements from suspects in custody
- Sexual harassment or assault of individuals subject to arrest or in police custody, including demanding sexual favors in exchange for not pursuing or dropping criminal charges against a suspect
- Willfully refusing to intervene in jailhouse assaults or using other detainees to commit assaults, including to retaliate against the victim of the assault for asserting their rights or filing grievances
What Are Common Types of Police Brutality and Misconduct in Baltimore?
Examples of behavior that may constitute police brutality or misconduct in Baltimore and throughout Maryland include the following:
Police employ excessive force when they use a level of force greater than necessary to subdue or detain individuals or to protect the police and the public from individuals who may pose threats. Examples of excessive force include using force to handcuff a non-resisting suspect, deploying riot control or less-than-lethal devices against non-violent protestors before giving orders to disperse, or employing lethal force against an unarmed, non-violent suspect.
A false arrest can occur when police lack sufficient evidence to form probable cause to believe that a suspect committed a crime. Police may also falsely arrest individuals based on a legally protected characteristic, such as race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or religious beliefs.
Officers and prosecutors may try to falsify evidence in a criminal investigation or prosecution to secure a suspect’s arrest or a criminal defendant’s conviction when the evidence otherwise would not support an arrest or conviction. For example, police may plant fake evidence, alter genuine evidence, or conceal/destroy exculpatory evidence.
Police officers can violate suspects’ civil rights by engaging in perjury during criminal investigations or prosecutions. For example, officers may provide false information in affidavits to secure search or arrest warrants when they otherwise lack probable cause for a warrant. An officer may knowingly provide false testimony on the stand during a criminal trial to create inculpatory evidence to secure a defendant’s conviction.
Officers may engage in misconduct when they conduct investigations or perform arrests based on racial profiling. This occurs when officers develop criminal suspicions about an individual based on race, color, ethnicity, or national origin.
Police investigators can violate suspects’ rights by conducting improper surveillance, which can include choosing surveillance targets based on biases or prejudices or engaging in surveillance that crosses the line into harassment.
Police misconduct can include unlawful search and seizure, which occurs when officers search a suspect’s person, vehicle, or home without a warrant or probable cause supporting a recognized warrantless search or when officers seize property in a search or detain/arrest a suspect without probable cause. Although criminal suspects can seek to exclude evidence obtained through unlawful searches and seizures from their criminal prosecutions, they can also file civil actions to recover compensation for financial losses caused by an unlawful search.
Police officers may commit sexual misconduct against detainees, arrestees, or inmates under various circumstances. For example, officers may demand sexual quid pro quo from a suspect in exchange for not arresting the suspect or dropping the charges against them. Officers may also use their position of authority to sexually assault detainees/arrestees in their custody.
What Are Causes of Police Brutality in Baltimore?
Some of the top causes of police brutality or misconduct include:
- Inadequate officer training
- Inadequate supervision or discipline of prior incidents of police brutality or misconduct
- Vague laws or regulations that grant excessive discretion which can lead to arbitrary and capricious decisions by officers
- Bias or prejudice based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religious beliefs, political beliefs, gender/sex, sexual orientation, or disability
- Lack of accountability from police departments or local government officials
- Inadequate background checks and psychological evaluations of officer candidates, which may result in the hiring of officers with prior incidents of misconduct or who lack the emotional temperament for police work
- A “close the ranks” culture in which officers cover up for others’ misconduct, whether willfully or under pressure from other officers
What Should I Do If I Was a Victim of Police Brutality in Baltimore?
When you experience unlawful or excessive force by the police in Baltimore or across Maryland, there are steps you can take to protect your safety and interests and put yourself in the best position to pursue a legal claim against the officers and the police department. They include the following:
- Do not attempt to resist an arrest or search or to flee from the police, as doing so may constitute a crime or justify the use of greater force.
- Seek prompt medical attention to document your injuries and begin treatment.
- Keep copies of your medical records and any bills, invoices, or receipts for expenses you incur to recover from injuries.
- Gather copies of your pay stubs or income statements if you lose income due to a civil rights violation.
- Contact an attorney from Greenberg Law Offices as soon as possible to protect your rights while in police custody and to begin pursuing legal action against the police for acts of excessive force or malicious assault.
What Evidence Could Be Used to Prove a Police Brutality Claim?
Unfortunately, officers who engage in acts of brutality against suspects or citizens may seek to cover up their conduct. As a result, pursuing a police brutality claim requires a thorough investigation to uncover helpful evidence, such as the following:
- Police records, including arrest or incident reports
- Officers’ personnel or disciplinary records
- Officers’ body camera or cruiser dashcam footage
- Photos or videos taken by bystanders or private surveillance footage of the incident
- Eyewitness testimony
- Medical records of your treatment and rehabilitation
Pursuing claims against a police department or local government may require you to present evidence proving the department or government had a policy or custom that facilitated or tolerated police brutality. Such evidence may include the following:
- Documentation of past incidents of police brutality/misconduct
- Employment records, including the results of officers’ background checks or psychological evaluations
- The police department’s policies and procedures
- Expert testimony regarding inadequacies in police department policies or disciplinary practices
