Top 5 Most Common Police Attitudes – #3

May 13, 2018

By Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

Today I’m continuing my series on the top 5 police officer attitudes I’ll see when defending cases.  These are police attitudes I see from police officers while on duty.

#3 — CYA

That’s right. Cover your a$$.

One of the psychological pressures on officers is maintaining their livelihood.  They don’t want to lose their job or their pension over any single case.

I see this one mostly in cases where there is an alleged victim involved such as domestic assault, sexual assault or complicated theft schemes to name a few.  A police officer knows an upset accuser (or the accusers parents) can cause them all sorts of headaches with his or her superiors at the station.

For assault/ family violence cases police are worried if they leave a couple warring in their home after a 911 call — one of them could be killed later in the evening.

On sexual abuse cases whether involving adults or children, a police officer is going to have to have a really good explanation to their superiors as to why they told an angry person claiming to be a victim, “no, we don’t believe you.”

Police will often file cases as “grand jury referrals” which is their way of filing a case with the District Attorney’s office while expressing an underlying doubt about the case.  It is a case where they don’t make an arrest prior to grand jury.  It can be seen as unwritten permission to dump a case.  Grand juries may still indict, though.

It sucks to be on the receiving end of a case where you suspect it was filed because the officer was doing CYA work.  It has to be dealt with like anything else.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas.

Leave a Comment » | Appeals, Assault, Computer Crimes, crimes against children, criminal mischief, Divorce related crimes, Grand Jury, Police, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

The 5 Most Common Police Attitudes – #4

May 12, 2018

By Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

Today, I’m continuing my series on the 5 most common police attitudes which I see case in and case out in the many, many cases I handle as a criminal defense lawyer.  As noted before, these opinions are due to my amateur police psychology.

#4 — Undecided

Police get complaints all day every day about wrongdoing.  They also see things while they are on duty which arouse their suspicion or curiosity.

It goes without saying often times when they approach a particular problem they are undecided about the outcome going into their work.  Normally, the longer a police officer is undecided in their investigation the more objective they will be.

Being undecided about an outcome is an extremely healthy attitude for someone making big decisions about another person’s life.  It causes the officer to investigate in detail and in doing so — to test alternate hypotheses, to review both favorable and unfavorable evidence in a balanced approach, and to understand the weight of their decision.  Obviously at some point an officer is likely to move off the undecided bubble one way or the other with the more information they assess and gather.  What is important is when they are undecided — they are better able to view the evidence neutrally.

I often see police who are extremely conscientious and do their very best to make the important decisions they are charged with making.  An officer should be undecided entering into every investigation undertaken.

But the equation breaks down a bit from here.  Police would have you believe they are undecided when approaching or investigating a case 100% of the time.  My experience is it is more like 20% of the time.

In fairness to police — I usually won’t see cases they don’t file unless I’m brought into the case very early.  The 20% could easily be much higher because I don’t know how many cases are put right in their trash-cans.

What I can say is by my best guestimation of the cases I do see — probably about 80% of the time the officer has a particular preferred outcome going into their investigation of cases they do ultimately file.  This can apply to DWI arrests, sexual assaults, or even white-collar embezzlement schemes.

Police are human too.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas.

 

Leave a Comment » | Computer Crimes, crimes against children, Divorce related crimes, DWI, Emergency Protective Orders, General Q&A, Police, Police and Prosecutors, sex cases, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

The 5 Most Common Police Attitudes – #5

May 9, 2018

By Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

Police are people too and there are mountains of research on police psychology.  Being a police officer can obviously be a job where any given day an officer can deal with stress, boredom, and possibly even traumatic experiences.  It can all shape how they interact with the public on a regular basis.

I’d say in the zillions and zillions of cases I’ve seen, police are like an old standard car when they deal with people. (which for younger readers means a car you had to shift on your own).  Police have about five different gears in my book.

This week, I’ll count down the most common police attitudes I see and feel prepared to diagnose in my amateur opinion.  They are in no particular order, but I figure I’ll save the more dramatic ones for the top of list.

So we’ll start with the boring:

5.  Human Scenery Mode

Most of the time you, me, and everyone in an officer’s path is nothing more than human scenery.  Police have much down-time in their job as one might suspect.  Probably the time they spend patrolling their beat, running a radar gun, or walking on foot through a public area is spent with their internal-scanner set to low.  It is rare to see an officer get too worked up about low level interactions such as basic traffic stops.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas.

 

Leave a Comment » | Police, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

The Greatest Misconception About Criminal Law

May 2, 2018

By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

We hear and read a lot about “activist judges” or a Judge who re-writes the law from the bench.

Judges make popular targets for groups such as politicians or insurance companies who have a vested interest in stoking the public anger.  

A surprising attitude I’ll read about or see either in the news media or on social network cites is some think Judges make things easier for people charged with crime.  They think Judges somehow “re-write the law” to help guilty people go free or to make things easier for people charged with a crime.

Sadly, if anything is true, it is the opposite.  Judges don’t like crime, they don’t like criminals, and most in Texas campaign on being tough on crime.  And if they’re being creative with the law — they are doing so IN FAVOR of law enforcement, not in favor those accused.

Consider statistics of our State courts of appeal.  They are abysmal when it comes to ruling in favor of those accused.  

Here’s a prime example: A judge who has to legally toss out a case against a sex offender lest they be reversed might look for any excuse they can to save their own skin and keep the offender on the hook.  If they do so, they’ll look to an area on which they think the court of appeals will uphold them.  If the courts of appeals back up the original judge — presto chango- Judges have found a new area to skirt an uncomfortable rule.

We have many wonderful Judges in Texas.  I’m not suggesting otherwise.  And to be fair — the laws often do put judges in extremely uncomfortable spots.  

The US Constitution is a contract between the government and the people designed to protect the people from the government.  It was written keeping in mind the masses will always put individuals in jeopardy to preserve their own safety — and that they’ll use the tools of government to do so. 

The framers knew there would be constant pressure from the people on their own government to keep the people safe even at the risk of individual’s liberty.  But the constitution is often a minimal or bare-bones protection for someone accused of something heinous.  Lawmakers, Judges, and law enforcement all too often rationalize these individuals are lucky to get even minimal protection.  But those are exactly the people who need it the most.

Next time you hear someone say a Judge re-write’s the law from the bench, think twice.  If they say it is re-written to help a criminal defendant — quit listening.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas.  He has been designated as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.

Leave a Comment » | Civil Liberties, crimes against children, Divorce related crimes, Police, Police and Prosecutors, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

Why Don’t the Police Care About My Rights?

May 1, 2018

By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

You have to remember how many police officers think.

Police often think they are the noble ones on high.  They are on “Team Good Guys.”  They protect victims from crime.  They are the ones who bravely run into dangerous situations when everyone runs out.  They stand for truth, justice and the American way.  And many of them sincerely and honestly do.

And many believe in – and completely respect your rights.  As long as they get to win in the end.

What I’m trying to say is Police and to a lesser degree prosecutors and to an even lesser degree Judges can’t turn off their human mind.  They all gravitate to what they believe the equitable or fair outcome should be in every case and they think the law should be written in a way to support THAT outcome.

Naturally, because police never consider themselves in the wrong when they make an arrest, many think the law supports (or should support) the result.

Also, to be fair to police, its not an officer’s job be the legal experts.  They are trained in what they need to know to keep the streets crime free and come home from their shift safely.  I’ve seen many cases where the police misunderstanding of the law actually helps my clients.  Police will let someone go or charge someone with a lesser crime because they’re afraid of over-stepping someone’s rights… even if they’re wrong about what those rights are.

But the bottom line is many officers view your rights as speed bumps when they think you’re guilty of something.  They re-write the laws in their own head to fit it into why another person’s right are inconsequential or haven’t been violated.

In other words, they rationalize.  They’re people just like the rest of us!

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For legal advice about this or any other situation you should contact an attorney directly.

 

Leave a Comment » | Police, Police and Prosecutors, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

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