Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Re: excessive force by a cop

Excessive force is a fluid concept that depends upon the circumstances surrounding the event. It certainly is judged by things regarding absence or presence of a weapon, conduct of the target of the force, the serious nature of an alleged crime that the police are investigating, known history of an arrestee and more. Usually, most departments have a mechanism for taking citizen complaints regarding police conduct. That is a good place to start. Ultimately there are possibilities of federal civil rights lawsuits known as Section 1983 suits for violations of civil rights. That is the often the mechanism to deal with such cases.