Police Harassment
Police Harassment - An Overview
Harassment is caused when a person has to endure unwanted attention. They can affect the victim both mentally and physically. Harassment can be made by various individuals or agencies. Here, we will deal with police harassment. Police harassment can be caused by corrupt police or by police officers who are misled by dishonest citizens.
The police misconduct provision of the US federal civil enforcement law makes it unlawful for State or local law enforcement officers to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of rights protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States (42 U.S.C. § 14141).
The types of conduct covered by this law can include, among other things, excessive force, discriminatory harassment, false arrests, coercive sexual conduct, and unlawful stops, searches or arrests made by police or other law enforcement officers. To be covered by this law, the misconduct must constitute a Â'pattern or practiceÂ'.It may not simply be an isolated incident.
How to avoid or deal with police harassment, in case you are an innocent citizen:
A person, who wants to avoid police harassment, should never resist the police physically. The mistreatment should be accepted, which later can be used against the harasser in court.
If questions are asked by a police officer, it is advisable to co-operate with them. The person should answer only if he/she is arrested by the police. Otherwise, he/she is a private citizen and enjoys all civil rights and so the police have no right to question you about the crime. An arrested person can also find out the legitimacy of the questions by asking them the reason for the arrest. To be safe from all angles, it is best to consult a legal representative and answer questions only if your attorney advises you to do so.
During search by police, a person can ask as to what is it that the police are looking for. If they are looking for weapons, the person should surrender the firearm, before the police can discover it. This shows the willingness by the person to co-operate with the police. But if the weapon is illegal, the person might be in trouble. If the person searched by the police is a female, she has the right to have a female witness present. The arrested person has no right to destroy evidence or to hide a weapon.
Finally, if a person is under arrest, he/she is no longer a private citizen, but a ward of the State. Alhough, protected under the Criminal Code, the civil rights of such a person are highly limited.
You can file a police harassment report with the US Department Of Justice (DOJ), with complete evidence, if you have a strong case of police harassment.
So, through this article you may have got some idea about what constitutes police harassment, the steps to avoid or deal with police harassment and the remedy. If you want more information, you can search on the Internet.
