Your Rights

This is not complete advice, and it may be the wrong advice in your particular case. Be sure to consult a lawyer -- and not just a smart helpful friend who is not a lawyer.

L.A. Police Watch does not advise disagreeing with any armed person about what your rights are – whether they are wearing a badge or not. Do not let them provoke you.

It is unclear what your rights are to videotape police in the USA. It varies from one jurisdiction to another. The government is currently doing its best to make recording the police a crime, with mixed success. But you certainly must not distract or interfere with the police. However, you can and should audio- or video-record the truthful statement of any witness to an incident who consents to the videotaping, as soon as possible after the event. L.A. Police Watch may be able to assist you in getting that recording to the right people.

(1) Get treatment for injuries; (2) get witness contact information; (3) write out your own statement of exactly what happened as best you can remember, addressing it “To My Attorney”; (4) date it, sign it, and put it away; (5) retain a lawyer.

If an incident has already occurred in which you believe law enforcement employees may have violated your rights, you can refer to these links for further information about your rights:

You have the right to file an internal police complaint, although these often lead to nothing. Such a complaint could result in retaliation against you by the involved officer if you don’t have a lawyer.

You have the right to send a complaint letter to newspapers or government agencies or officials so long as they are truthful. However, these usually will not get any results, and your letters could be used as evidence against you. For example, police may argue that minor differences from one statement to another show that you “keep changing your story.” Or, if all of your statements are consistent, that your story is “rehearsed.” On the other hand, If you can get a story done about what happened to you, your chances of getting a lawyer will improve greatly.

You are not required to submit to a police interview, or, if you choose to participate in one, to be questioned without an attorney being present. You should get permission to make and retain your own recording of any such interview. After you bring a lawsuit, you will probably be interviewed about the incident under questioning by a government lawyer, with a court reporter taking down what you say, either in what is called a “deposition,” or at trial. Do not expect that anything you say will convince the government to do what's right. Usually only a jury can do that -- with a verdict against the police.

If you have been injured and are treated, it is a good idea to get the name of every nurse and doctor who examines or treats you. You have a right to obtain all medical records of your own examination and treatment and you should do so as soon as possible. You may not have a right to obtain or see your own police arrest record, however.

You have the right to take photographs of the scene where the incident occurred; of your own injuries or damages; to collect names, phone numbers, and statements – written and signed if possible – of any witnesses. You should do so as soon as possible.

If there is no other witness, you are a witness, and a jury may believe you over ten police officers. Write down your own statement, date it and sign it, as soon as possible after the event, for use by your own attorney.

If you want the police to arrest someone or investigate a crime and they don’t want to, there’s usually nothing you can do about it, unless you can prove the refusal was based on some kind of unlawful – for example racial – discrimination.

Although you may not need to, it’s often a good idea to file a formal notice of tort claim (which is different from an internal police complaint) against the government as soon as possible, and you can file a notice of claim with or without the assistance of an attorney. With an attorney is much better, however.

So, if five months have passed and you still do not have a lawyer, you may want to file a notice of tort claim to help preserve your rights to sue for violations of state law (learn more at www.lapolicewatch.com). Seek support from local police abuse and civil rights community organizations (not police internal affairs). Obtain meetings with city council and county board of supervisor representatives. Organize protests. Contact the media.

If your rights have been violated, and you have been substantially harmed, you have the right to sue those responsible for financial damages. However, if you lose such a lawsuit, you may have to pay the government’s legal costs, especially if a court decides your case never had any merit at all. (All the more reason to find a good lawyer.)

You are not required to wait until the police conduct their own investigation before suing, and L.A. Police Watch advises against waiting at all before contacting an attorney. Some attorneys will work without payment from you, taking only a share of any money you later win. This is called a “contingency” relationship. Police and government officials, pretending to be on your side, might try to trick you into waiting until legal deadlines extinguish your rights, while they “investigate.” Don’t be fooled.

You can conduct the entire lawsuit without an attorney if you choose. However, L.A. Police Watch advises strongly against taking any action without the assistance of an attorney, if you can find one who will help you within a month or two of the incident.

If you do hire an attorney, and later want to hire a different one, you can usually change lawyers any time you want, or take over the case yourself (usually a bad idea), although the first lawyer may still be able to charge you for the work they have already done.

There is usually nothing you can do to get a law enforcement officer disciplined or fired, with or without a lawyer. Criminal prosecutions against police seldom happen, and even then they may be sham prosecutions designed to prove the police innocent.

Police may laugh and tell you that there is nothing you can do about their misconduct.