When a New York City police officer is attempting to enforce the law, it does not mean that the officer has the right to mistreat people. Police misconduct can happen in many ways and some of the worst violations involve getting overly physical and abusing a suspect. Whether the arrest or citation was valid or not, those who were subjected to mistreatment should understand their rights.
An incident on a street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan resulted in accusations of violent behavior on the part of a plainclothes officer. There is a viral video of the series of events. According to witnesses, officers went to the front of a store to confront two people who were not adhering to the current order in which people must stay six feet away from one another. This is in place because of the current health situation impacting people all over the world. It is especially problematic in New York.
As this was happening, officers went toward people on the corner of the street were also accused of failing to obey the guidelines. Officers asserted they saw a bag of what they believed to be marijuana. In the video, officers are trying to handcuff people on the corner when one officer turned toward a 33-year-old man and pointed his Taser at him. The man taking the video said the officer audibly used a racial slur. When the man asked if he was calling him by the slur, the officer punched him several times, threw him to the ground and handcuffed him. After the video began circulating, NYPD Internal Affairs began an investigation with the officer being put on modified duty.
With the current mandates on people keeping a certain distance away from one another for safety from illness, law enforcement has a difficult job in enforcing these rules. Still, people may find themselves being manhandled and mistreated by law enforcement as it is being enforced. Officers do not have the right to violate the laws themselves when they are making an arrest. A video recording of an incident certainly helps the victim’s perspective of the incident, but it is not necessary to lodge a complaint, file a lawsuit and be compensated. After an alleged incident of police misconduct, it may be essential to have legal assistance to pursue a case.