5 Common Types of Police Misconduct and Your Legal Options

Encountering police misconduct can leave you feeling violated, scared, and powerless. It's a painful experience that no one should go through, often causing physical injuries, emotional trauma, or lasting damage to your sense of security. Many people suffer in silence, unsure of their rights or how to hold officers accountable. 

That's where Toni Jaramilla, a law firm in Los Angeles, California, comes in. They serve clients throughout Los Angeles, California, with attorneys Toni Jaramilla, Aaron Jansen, and Diem Ha dedicated to fighting for victims of civil rights violations. If you've faced misconduct, reach out to them for guidance on protecting your rights.

Police officers hold significant authority, but they must follow the law. When they don't, it violates your constitutional protections. Below covers five common types of police misconduct and the steps you can take if it happens to you. Contact Toni Jaramilla today to schedule a consultation.

1. Excessive Force

Officers sometimes use more force than necessary during arrests or encounters, leading to serious harm. This happens when the situation doesn't call for intense physical intervention, yet punches, kicks, tasers, or even deadly force are applied.

Victims often end up with broken bones, head injuries, or worse. High-profile cases, like the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, highlight how excessive force can escalate quickly and draw widespread attention. Recent years have seen multimillion-dollar settlements in the region.

This misconduct violates your Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizures. It leaves lasting effects, from medical bills to ongoing pain.

• Physical beatings: Officers punch, kick, or strike you without justification.

• Improper use of weapons: Tasers, batons, or guns are deployed when lesser options would suffice.

• Deadly force in non-threatening situations: Shooting someone who poses no immediate danger.

If you've experienced excessive force, document your injuries right away and seek medical care. These cases can lead to compensation for your suffering, and pursuing them holds officers accountable. In Los Angeles alone, liability payouts for such incidents contribute to hundreds of millions in annual costs to taxpayers.

2. False Arrest or Imprisonment

False arrest occurs when officers detain you without probable cause or legal justification. They might hold you longer than allowed or ignore evidence of your innocence, keeping you confined against your will.

This strips away your freedom and can lead to humiliation or lost wages. Even brief detentions count if they're unlawful. Settlements for false arrest in California courts have reached hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent cases.

Your Fourth Amendment rights protect against this. Many victims feel angry and betrayed when cleared later, realizing the arrest lacked a basis.

• Detention without cause: Stopping and holding you based on hunches rather than facts.

• Ignoring exculpatory evidence: Continuing custody despite proof of innocence.

• Prolonged holds: Keeping you jailed beyond legal limits without charges.

False arrests often stem from mistakes or bias, but they cause real harm. Victims can recover damages for time lost and emotional distress through legal action.

3. Racial Profiling

Racial profiling happens when officers target you based on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than behavior. They stop, question, or search you simply because of how you look, assuming criminality without evidence.

This erodes trust in law enforcement and makes everyday activities feel threatening for targeted communities. Data shows disparities, with Black individuals more likely to face certain arrests compared to others.

It violates equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. Studies and reports show it disproportionately affects people of color.

• Traffic stops without violation: Pulling you over for "driving while Black" or similar biases.

• Unjustified searches: Frisking or searching based on appearance alone.

• Heightened scrutiny: Questioning you more aggressively due to ethnicity.

Racial profiling damages lives and communities. If it affects you, gathering witness statements or video can strengthen your case for justice.

4. Unlawful Search and Seizure

Officers must have a warrant or a valid exception to search you, your vehicle, or your home. Unlawful searches occur when they proceed without consent, probable cause, or proper authorization and seize items without lawful authority.

This invades your privacy and can lead to wrongful charges based on planted or mishandled evidence. The Fourth Amendment safeguards against this. Victims often discover violations only after the fact.

• Searches without warrants: Entering property or vehicles illegally.

• Coerced consent: Pressuring you to agree under duress.

• Excessive scope: Searching beyond what's allowed.

Unlawful actions can invalidate evidence in court. Pursuing remedies helps restore your rights and prevents future abuses.

5. Malicious Prosecution

Malicious prosecution involves officers pushing charges they know lack evidence, often to cover up their own wrongdoing or out of personal bias. They file reports with false information, leading to trials or pleas despite innocence. 

This drags you through the legal system unnecessarily, causing stress, financial loss, and reputational harm. It offends due process rights. Many exonerated people later seek accountability.

• Fabricated evidence: Planting items or lying in reports.

• Withholding exculpatory info: Hiding proof that clears you.

• Continued pursuit without basis: Prosecuting despite a clear lack of probable cause.

Malicious cases waste resources and ruin lives. Successful claims can provide compensation and clear your name fully.

Seek Justice After Misconduct

If you've faced any of these misconduct types, you have options in California. File complaints with internal affairs or oversight bodies. For stronger recourse, pursue civil lawsuits under federal laws, like Section 1983, which allows suits against state/local officials for constitutional violations.

California state laws, such as the Bane Act, forbid people from interfering with a person's constitutional rights by force or the threat of violence. These can yield damages for injuries, lost income, and pain. Recent reforms, including a public database of over a million pages of misconduct records, have increased transparency, making it easier to build cases.

Toni Jaramilla in Los Angeles, California, helps clients across Los Angeles, California, recover and hold wrongdoers accountable. Attorneys Toni Jaramilla, Aaron Jansen, and Diem Ha fight vigorously for victims. Don't let misconduct go unchallenged—it affects everyone. Reach out to Toni Jaramilla today for a consultation and take the first step toward justice.