Police Officer Unreasonable Force Sentencing

Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice (”DOJ”) announced in a June 11, 2009 DOJ Press Release that a Chicago police officer has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for violating the federal civil rights of a man whom the officer struck repeatedly with a dangerous weapon while the man was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair.  See, http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/June/09-crt-581.html .  According to the DOJ Press Release, the police officer pleaded guilty and admitted that he used excessive or unreasonable force while acting under the color of law after being charged in April 2008 with depriving the victim of his civil rights.  In pleading guilty, the police officer admitted that on August 2, 2005, while performing his duties as a police officer, he used a “sap” - a dangerous weapon similar to a blackjack - to repeatedly strike the victim, who was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair at a Chicago hospital, resulting in bodily injury.  As stated in the Press Release, the victim was awaiting treatment in the hospital after being stabbed in the shoulder.  A DOJ attorney was quoted in the Press Release as saying that “No law enforcement officer may use unreasonable force with impunity and every citizen, regardless of being in police custody, has a Constitutional right to be free from the use of excessive force.”

Whether police officer use of unreasonable force occurs in Bay City, Freeport, Port Lavaca, or elsewhere, victims of police brutality may contact the DOJ and an attorney or lawyer to determine if criminal charges or an excessive force lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential unlawful force claim.