Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

Under new patrol guideline, issued by the NYPD in September of 2013, the families of people who are killed by police or die in custody will be notified of the death by a lieutenant or higher ranking officer �in a reasonable amount of time, preferably within two hours� of the fatality. However, this new two-hour rule, in my opinion,does nothing to address the problem of delayed family notification of a family member's death, As with our so-called "rights", this two-hour rule only applies until a detective does not want it to apply.Just like we have all these wonderful rights; the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures; the search warrant requirement; the right to a fair trial and the right to competent defense counsel. You see, we have all these wonderful rights but, what the average person is shocked to learn, is that you only have have these rights until an officer wants to enter your home or search your car or even probe your anus during a car stop. While the police have the ignorant amongst us thinking the bad guys have all the loopholes and technicalities, the truth is, the exceptions to our rights as set forth in the Bill of Rights take up entire library sections. Instead of punishing the police when they clearly violate any number of our rights, the courts will stretch and torture the plain meaning of words to create yet another exception pursuant to which the police may violate our rights. This has resulted in the total annihilation of our Bill of Rights and only the naive or liars still believe this fairly tale about rights. So to answer your question, the NYPD has a two hour rule that can be overridden by a detective thus rendering the rule about as useful and the 9th Amendment. And no, you generally cannot sue a police office for violating the department's own internal procedures.

And just as I am finishing this response, a news report came on about a black college football player who was involved in a car accident. He exited his vehicle and approached a police officer. Of course, the police officer is your friend. This police officer, who I guarantee you, beyond any doubt, is 5'8" in height or less and has a past littered with rejections from real police departments. took out his gun and shot the black student dead. Of course, no charges against this puffy chest coward. This was an example of pursuing your right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness until an officer wants to kill you. Then those rights, made famous in our Declaration of Independence end. See the pattern. Moral of the story, they have a two hour rule that provides for no penalties if they violate the rule.

John Campbell, Esq

www.whiteplainscriminalattorneyblog.com