Ron Poliquin DoverLawOffice.com,

I am here to talk about dealing with a bad cop in a violation of civil rights and this is my dog Magnus, he is here with me too. Just like there are bad dogs, there are bad cops out there. I represent plaintiffs whose civil rights have been violated by law enforcement. Some examples include unlawful arrest, excessive force, denial of medical care & malicious prosecution.

Now, civil rights violations are some of the toughest to prove.

First, law enforcement and government officials have something called qualified immunity.

Secondly, police officers have a tough job and people tend to want to believe them.

So how do we handle a bad cop? How do you handle a bad cop and handle that situation?

I'm going to give you 5 tips on how to deal with a bad cop, or in that situation, dealing with a bully cop.

1. Ask for an attorney. This should trigger even a bad cop to know this is somebody that is asserting their right and it should trigger all sorts of rights from there, and you want to speak to an attorney.
2. Follow the cops orders. You are not going to win an argument, especially against a bully cop; you will never win in that situation.
3. Do not consent to a search. It is amazing how many times I see somebody that gets pulled over by a cop or gets stopped on the street by a cop and they will readily consent to a search of their body or their vehicle.
4. Do not give a statement to a cop. Anything you say will be used against you and certainly will and a lot of times, if you're dealing with a bad cop or bully cop, your words are going to be twisted.
5. Do not resist arrest. Even if you believe it's an unlawful or illegal arrest because in Delaware, even if you resist an unlawful arrest it still can constitute a crime within itself.

Lastly, write a narrative and file a complaint with internal affairs. Do it when your memory is the freshest, right after the event. Collect the names of the witnesses. After you do all these things, seek an experienced civil rights attorney. Even if you have a separate criminal defense attorney. Most criminal defense attorneys are not civil rights attorneys. They are two different things, so you need to get both. One is someone to defend your criminal case and two, if you're going to sue civilly on the civil side, your criminal cases might impact on what you do in your criminal case. Now, on the street during the police stop, the bad cop will always have the upper hand, but in the courtroom, later on, the playing field is level. So be sure to assert your rights, follow the cops orders, write a narrative, get witnesses and most of all, get an experienced civil rights attorney.

That's all and thanks again for listening. If you have any comments or questions about this video, give me a call or leave it in the comments section. DoverLawOffice.com, Ron Poliquin.