It is quite a popular fact that Utah is more lenient towards officers who conduct acts of police brutality as compared to other states, and this may actually have some truth to it. A bill which was passed fairly recently has made it even easier for police officers to get away with acts of police brutality. This bill basically works to limit the power of independent police brutality review boards. This means that when the police chief makes a decision about a case of police brutality then review boards can’t really change the decision of the chief or even influence his decision in a significant manner.
Naturally, this works in favor of police officers and may be useful for those officers who are innocent. However, it gives a lot of room for those officers who are breaking the law to continue doing as they please. Luckily, there are many other laws which protect individuals from acts of police brutality and they can decrease the strength of this bill. There are also many agencies fighting for these laws quite actively
What are some agencies that fight to prevent police officers from acting violently?
One of the most openly active agencies which work against all types of police brutality is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU works against police brutality in the following ways:
- They advocate against excessive use of force openly
- They educate the public on their rights and what they can do if they are faced with police brutality
- They respond to allegations of police brutality
The ACLU is not the only agency out there who are doing this. There are plenty of other incentives such as ‘CopWatch’ which work around the same understanding of trying to decrease brutality by building awareness and organizing peaceful protests as well. The main difference between the ACLU and CopWatch is that CopWatch focuses specifically on police misconduct whereas the ACLU covers many other human rights issues apart from police brutality. CopWatch also focuses on actually documenting and recording as many incidents of police brutality as they can.
Police brutality lawyers in Salt Lake City, UT are yet another group of individuals who actively work against violence caused by police officers. However, lawyers can do a lot more than just protest and build awareness; they can actually help a person gather evidence and build a case so that it can be escalated to a court trial.
Police officers definitely have an advantage when it comes to litigation. However, there are many situations for which an officer can be penalized quite severely such as in sexual abuse cases and unlawful death cases as well. A police brutality attorney can inform a person of all of the laws which the officer violated and can, therefore, lead to proper penalization of the officer and even compensation for the individual who was hurt due to the officer’s actions.
