Yuppers that's right! I've been at a department when it got sued. I've had cop buddies who made arrests that resulted in a law suit. You know what happened? NOTHING. heck one guy I know made a good arrest (I've seen the video) and the lady sued. It was about two years ago and from what I understand it's still going on. A complaint goes to the chief and he reads it. Maybe a complaint with a formal meeting to discuss your ill feelings of how you were treated would go even further. A lawsuit is going to get looked at and then passed on to the city attorney or whoever. Also if you do meet with the chief don't go in there mouth blazing looking for blood either. Anytime someone comes at me just irate I always just shut off until they calm down.TLynnHughes wrote:More than likely what would happen is after years of depositions and stalling and paper filing and money, the city would settle out of court. Once the lawsuit is filed, the accused policeman isn't even really aware it's going on except when he gives his deposition. It becomes a lawyer's game after that (no offense, Charles). If the suit filer is lucky, he'll end up with a bit more money than it cost him to retain a lawyer. But more than likely, the police department won't bat an eye, won't change any of their policies and everthing will go on as normal. It's not pretty, but it's reality.T.
I think you'll find that most of the upper leadership in a law enforcement organization want to see their officers do the right thing and and make good arrests. They will more than likely appreciate you bringing the error to their attention instead of just hiring some lawyer and making them take money out of their budget to fight the thing. If we all want better relations between us and the law enforcement types (better than they already are) someone has to take the first step. The poster involved was done wrong. The officer seems to have made a mistake and for that he should be educated and possibly punished but I'll also say that if you sue he may not be dealt with since the department doesn't want a record of them saying he was wrong that is therefore admissible in court. They may ALL know he was wrong as could be but they CAN'T and WON'T admit it because it could mean big money if they do. Filing a complaint and talking to the chief in a calm collected manner is a good way to get the officer EDUCATED on how to deal with this in the future. Suing them and an off with their heads attitude is a good way to make a dedicated enemy out of a confused enemy.
“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” Confucius