Unjustifed Force by Law Enforcement in Philadelphia

There are many ways residents of Philadelphia may run afoul of law enforcement, from serious criminal violations to cases of mistaken identity, to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In some instances, Pennsylvanians may even find themselves in police custody for no good reason at all. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), more than 6,000 Philadelphians were “stopped and frisked” in the first six months of 2018 without reasonable cause. 

Many of these instances do not result in charges and the individuals involved are able to go about their lives. Unfortunately, in too many cases, law enforcement oversteps their role and officers will use an unnecessary amount of physical force to detain, arrest or control a suspect, leading to serious injuries and death. Residents are protected from unnecessary force through state and federal laws at both the criminal and civil level. Knowing your rights and what to do in a situation where you or a loved one has been injured or killed by law enforcement is important both to recover losses and to prevent officers from continuing to violate the rights of Pennsylvanians.

Officers are required to have permission to search your person or property. Unless an officer has a warrant signed by a judge, you are under no obligation to allow a search. Simply say “I do not consent to a search.” Officers may search you anyway, but refusing the search is the first step to mounting a defense. The only information you are required to provide to police is your name and date of birth. If you are driving, you are required to provide you driver’s license, insurance and vehicle registration, but wait until an officer asks for it before getting these documents together. Some officers may believe you are trying to hide evidence, giving them permission to search you and your vehicle under the “reasonable suspicion” doctrine. If you are being written a ticket, you must sign it, else you can be arrested.

Over the course of the last 30 years, police departments across the nation have deployed non-lethal or less-than-lethal tools to assist officers with bringing combative suspects to heel. Among the most popular, electro-shock tasers and pepper spray have been used in millions of interactions with residents, and only in specific circumstances have police been found to be unreasonable in their use. 

Courts have found it to be unreasonable for officers to continue using a taser on a suspect already in custody (Roberts v. Manigold, 2007), but have generally upheld an officer’s right to “qualified immunity,” a legal doctrine that prevents claims against persons acting within the reasonable scope of their employment when dealing with a suspect who refuses to follow orders or acts in a manner that could place the officers in harms way.  

Similarly, courts have held that the use of pepper spray against unarmed individuals, particularly in cases like those seen during non-violent protests, is an unconstitutional “taking” under the fourth amendment, (Young v. County of Los Angeles, 2011.) For a variety of reasons, the courts have found police use of pepper spray to be less reasonable in most scenarios than the use of tasers or other non-lethal or less-than-lethal devices.

Law enforcement officers have many tools at their disposal to handle a variety of situations, but the most valuable is the training they receive and how they utilize that training in the field. As residents, we expect that police officers will act appropriately, but the reality is some officers are more likely to use physical force in a particular situation, and this can lead to serious injury and even death if you don’t know the limits of your rights. 

If you believe that police used an unnecessary amount of force to arrest you, contact a lawyer at once so we can begin collecting the information we need to make sure those who unnecessarily hurt you are punished and the agency responsible for those officers is held responsible for allowing your injuries to happen.