HOW POLICE ABUSE THEIR POWER AND HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF.

YOUR RIGHTS The Fourth amendment of the united states Constitution protects citizens (and non-citizens) from unreasonable search and seizure. You do not have to let the police in the house unless they have a warrant You have a right to a lawyer. You have the right to leave if you are not being detained/ arrested. So three important phrases to remember are: "I do not consent to any searches." "That is a question for my lawyer.“ "Am I free to go?"

WHAT CAN THEY DO? WITHOUT probable cause or reasonable suspicion a police officer CAN: Ask to see a drivers license, registration, insurance, or other relevant information. Act on suspicions that the police officer has developed during the stop Order the driver and passengers out of the vehicle Have a K9 unit sniff the vehicle (as long as the K9 until is resent and the sniff doesn’t extend the stop) WITHOUT probable cause or reasonable suspicion a police officer CANNOT: Search your vehicle at a simple traffic stop for speeding with no probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Hold you on the side of the road, without reasonable suspicion or probable cause of a traffic Detain you for any longer than necessary to achieve the reason that the police officer pulled you over for.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES ABUSE ENTAIL? Police brutality - the wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but also common in forms of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. False arrest - a common law tort, where a plaintiff alleges he or she was held in custody without probable cause, or without an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. Intimidation - intentional behavior that "would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of injury or harm. Racial profiling - the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement (e.g. stop and search or arrest). Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is forcing undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another.

WHAT’S CAUSING THIS? Growing police-state. An extensive report prepared for the United Nations Human Rights Committee, tabled in 2006, states that in the U.S., the "War on Terror" has "created a generalized climate of impunity for law enforcement officers, and contributed to the erosion of what few accountability mechanisms exist for civilian control over law enforcement agencies. As a result, police brutality and abuse persist unabated and undeterred across the country.“* Ineffective disciplinary systems in place. A 2007 study of the Chicago Police Department found that out of more than 10,000 police abuse complaints filed between 2002 and 2003, only 19 (0.0019%) resulted in meaningful disciplinary action. In the United States, investigation of cases of police brutality has often been left to internal police commissions and/or district attorneys (DAs). Internal police commissions have often been criticized for a lack of accountability and for bias favoring officers, as they frequently declare upon review that the officer(s) acted within the department's rules, or according to their training.

IS POLICE ABUSE REALLY A PROBLEM? While the prevalence of police brutality in the United States is not comprehensively documented, statistics on police brutality are much less available. Yet, there has been a noticeable shift in the nature of this long standing abuse now that we live in an age where we have cameras on our phones. There are now more cases of the police abusing any and everybody be they young, old, black, white, human or animal. They are bursting into homes (often the wrong ones) shooting and killing residents, but then claiming somebody had a weapon or made a sudden move causing them to fear for their lives. They are shooting people in the back then claiming the person again had a weapon or came at them threateningly. In many of these cases the police have been found to have falsified reports, planted evidence and flat out been the aggressor.

EXAMPLES Ferguson shootings where Michael Brown was shot down multiple times and did not even have a gun. An officer caught on camera saying, “go ahead call the cops, they can’t un-rape you” on-video-go-ahead-call-the-cops-they-cant-un-rape-you/ Prosecutors say 26-year-old Patrick Quinn used his badge and school district-issued patrol car to try to fulfill sexual fetishes. police-officer-placed-on-administrative-leave/ /

SOURCES, BITCHES. "In the Shadows of the War on Terror: Persistent Police Brutality and Abuse in the United States""In the Shadows of the War on Terror: Persistent Police Brutality and Abuse in the United States" (PDF). United Nations Committee on Human Rights. June Retrieved /11PDF power-the-new-norm-graphic-video/