Two LAPD police officers are still on active duty despite a lawsuit filed against them for violently beating a civilian, who suffered a broken leg.
The victim, Christopher Ballew, who is black, has filed a police misconduct claim against Pasadena, the city’s police department and chief, and two police officers who beat him during an arrest back in November.
Fact: An American is killed by a police officer an estimated every 7 hours.
The disturbing case of police misconduct was filmed by a bystander as well as police body-camera footage, and the video has been at the forefront of the national conversation ever since.
The unsolved problem of police misconduct in Los Angeles
Even though the case did not reveal the problem of police misconduct and violence in America, it underscored the importance of holding police officers accountable for their unlawful actions.
More often than not, however, police officers get away with violence and police brutality, and even if fired, many of them are reinstated after getting terminated for police misconduct, our Los Angeles police misconduct attorneys remind us.
Fact: 451 of at least 1,881 police officers who were fired for police misconduct since 2006 across the U.S. were eventually reinstated.
During the violent November arrest, two police officers stopped Ballew allegedly because his car’s windows were too darkly tinted, and because of a missing front license plate.
Brutal beating of a black man by two police officers
After the incident made headlines in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California, the public pressed Pasadena police to release body-camera footage of the disturbing arrest at a gas station.
As seen in the video, Ballew walks towards a mini-market nearby when one of the officers grabs the black man’s arm and takes him back to his white Mercedes.
Then the officers spread the man’s feet apart in order to get him on his knees. Ballewcan is heard repeatedly demanding the police officers call their commanding officer.
Then, one of Ballew’s wrists is being handcuffed, and one of the officers hits him with a baton. The man manages to grab the baton, which results in a fight.
Eventually, the officers force the man to the ground and repeatedly beat him while he’s on the ground, delivering powerful blows to his back and legs.
Due to his injuries, which included a broken leg, Ballew was hospitalized. Later, the police booked the man on suspicion of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon.
Ballew spent about 36 hours in custody before getting released on $50,000 bail. No charges were pressed against the man, as the attorney’s office concluded there was not enough evidence.
Now, Ballew is suing the city of Pasadena, the city’s police department and chief, as well as the two police officers, who are still on active duty, and is seeking monetary compensation for the injuries sustained in the police misconduct incident.
How do seek justice for police misconduct
Unfortunately, most police brutality and police misconduct cases are being kept under wraps by police departments. Only a few are actually reported and publicized by the media.
If your civil rights have been violated in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California, contact a Los Angeles police misconduct attorney immediately to find out the best legal options available in your particular case.
Here at JML Law, we adopt an aggressive approach when it comes to fighting for our clients against police misconduct in Los Angeles and all across California. If you or your loved ones became victims of wrongful conviction, false arrest, police brutality, violence, or other forms of police misconduct, seek legal representation immediately.
Call our police misconduct lawyers at 818-610-8800 or send an email for a free case evaluation. on how to bring police officers and law enforcement officials to justice and obtain compensation for your injuries and damages.
