Police Brutality: What To Do If You Are a Victim in NYC

In recent years attention has been focused on the horrific and avoidable deaths of citizens killed by the police. The senselessness of these killings is undisputed since they are often captured on camera by onlookers, or the police cameras installed in their patrol cars. The number of deaths at the hands of the police have been drastically underestimated by the tracking of the FBI. And now different private groups have stepped forward to get a better handle on the numbers. Where the FBI showed 461 homicides in 2013, a database called Fatal Encounters logged about 1,100 police-related homicides in 2014.

Abuse by the System

Clearly this is a significant number and it is happening to blacks three times more often than whites. A recent article by Reddit Hudson, a retired black police officer, said that 15% of the officers will always do the right thing, no matter what the situation.  And 15% will abuse their authority at every opportunity they get. The remaining 70% will could go either way depending on the influence of who they are working with at the time. Those odds don’t bode well for people of color who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hudson writes of his experience on the force where few officers are indicted for their actions, “ no matter what an officer has done to a black person, that officer can always cover himself in the running narrative of heroism, risk, and sacrifice that is available to a uniformed police officer by virtue of simply reporting for duty”.

Steps for Victims of Police Brutality

If you or a loved one has been a victim of police brutality whether it be a wrongful arrest, excessive force, or homicide, it’s important that you take a few important steps.

1. Make sure you find a witness and get their contact information. Most of these violations take place in public places and it’s important to find someone who can back up what happened.
2. If you do find someone who caught the scene on video, make sure they send it to you.
3. Do not say or do anything that the police could use against you.
4. Contact an experienced lawyer in the specific area of police brutality. A lawyer who has years of experience bringing suits against New York City, is the one you will want to hire.

The Ashley Law Firm specializes in NYC police brutality cases. Mitchel Ashley will fight for your dignity and will hold the police and the City of New York accountable for injuries or death and for any wrongful arrest. He will work for you to be fairly compensated for everything involved in this ordeal including medical expenses, pain and suffering and lost wages.

You don’t pay us unless we get you money!