California Police Brutality Lawyer | Police Brutality Center

Content Last Updated: February 24, 2026

Unfortunately, California is a hotspot for police brutality and misconduct in the United States, and police killed 155 people in the state in 2025. Countless lawsuits and settlements against the state’s various law enforcement agencies have led to some reform, but the issue of police misconduct is still widespread.

How a California Police Brutality Lawyer Can Help You

After experiencing police brutality in California, working with an experienced civil rights lawyer is crucial to giving your case the best chance of success. The legal landscape of police brutality claims is complex, and many cases are an uphill battle as the doctrine of qualified immunity often shields police officers from accountability.

Working with an attorney who knows California’s laws and police department policies can help you secure the compensation you deserve for what you’ve endured.

Connect With an Experienced Police Brutality Lawyer

Police Brutality Center partners with nationally recognized trial attorney Solomon Radner of Radner Law Group, PLLC, to help victims of police misconduct across the United States. Attorney Radner has been honored as a Super Lawyer since 2014 and named among the Top 40 Under 40 trial attorneys by the National Trial Lawyers Association.

Filing a Civil Rights Claim in California

If you or a loved one has experienced police brutality or misconduct in California, you may be eligible to file a civil rights claim against the city, police department, or individual officers who violated your rights. Through a successful civil lawsuit, you may be able to recover compensation for things like medical bills, emotional distress, lost wages or earning opportunities, and more.

Note that in California, most police misconduct claims must be filed within two years. In addition, if you are suing a public entity or public employee for damages in California, you must first file an administrative claim within six months of the incident.

Many recent settlements for police misconduct in California are in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars for excessive force and police shootings, especially involving 2020 protests in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. Additionally, between 2005 and 2018, L.A. alone paid more than $190 million in police misconduct settlements.

Police Misconduct & Civil Rights Laws in California

In California, police brutality can take many forms, including the following:

Use of excessive force
Unjustified police shootings
Racial profiling
Wrongful arrests or detention
Abuse during protests
In-custody deaths.

Individuals whose Constitutional or other legal rights have been violated have the right to file federal lawsuits against the offending officers, departments, or jurisdictions under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871. California law mirrors federal law, with the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act guaranteeing the same protections for people whose civil rights have been violated.

Additionally, the 2019 California Act to Save Lives, or CASL, redefined when deadly force by police is acceptable. Before this change, state law allowed lethal force by officers when necessary to arrest a fleeing felon. Under the CASL, lethal force is only justifiable when an officer reasonably believes, based on the totality of the circumstances, that deadly force is necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious injury to themself or another person.

California’s Police Misconduct Transparency Law of 2018 also requires certain police officer personnel records and records of complaints or investigations related to misconduct to be available for public inspection.

History of Police Brutality in California

Numerous cases of police brutality and misconduct across the state of California have made national headlines and established precedents for legal actions against the police. The killing of Rodney King in L.A. in 1991 sparked mass unrest and protests that left many people injured or killed, and after the LAPD’s Rampart Scandal, the department was under federal observation for five years.

LAPD’s Rampart Scandal – 1997-2001

The Rampart scandal in L.A. was a series of police corruption incidents that unfolded during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The scandal involved widespread criminal activity within the LAPD’s Rampart Division, specifically in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums anti-gang unit.

Over 70 officers were implicated in widespread misconduct, including police brutality, planting false evidence, drug dealing, bank robbery, perjury, and cover-ups. It was one of the largest police corruption scandals in U.S. history.

In late 2000, the Rampart scandal led to federal investigations of the LAPD and an eventual Consent Decree with the U.S. Department of Justice. The decree authorized federal oversight of the LAPD for five years and required significant reforms to the department’s practices.

Rodney King – 1991, Los Angeles

Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers on March 3, 1991, during his arrest after a high-speed chase for driving while intoxicated on Interstate 210. A bystander caught the entire incident on camera, and King was beaten dozens of times by multiple officers while a Sergeant did not intervene.

The incident sparked mass protests and unrest in the community, and two of the involved officers were criminally convicted. King later received $3.8 million in a civil suit against the Los Angeles police department.

Recent Police Brutality Cases in California

In 2020, the backlash to police brutality sparked a nationwide movement in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. Meanwhile, the protests across the country resulted in countless additional incidents of excessive force, many of which led to multi-million-dollar settlements. Additionally, multiple other victims were killed by police that year, including Andres Guardado and Angelo Quinto in California.

Andres Guardado – 2020, Los Angeles County

Andres Guardado was an 18-year-old security guard who was shot five times in the back by a deputy sheriff from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in June 2020. The deputy reportedly fired seven shots, hitting Guardado in the upper torso. Police later allegedly destroyed surveillance footage of the incident.

Guardado’s death came in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests, and sparked additional protests. Eventually, L.A. County reached an $8 million settlement agreement with Guardado’s family.

Angelo Quinto – 2020, Antioch

In 2024, the city of Antioch agreed to a $7.5 million settlement with the family of Angelo Quinto, who was killed by Antioch police officers in 2020. Quinto was a 30-year-old Navy veteran who was reportedly having a mental health emergency in his home when police allegedly restrained him forcibly, leading to death by suffocation. Quinto’s family filed a civil rights lawsuit after his death.

Contact an Experienced California Police Brutality Lawyer

Police brutality is a human rights violation. If you or a loved one has been a victim of police brutality or misconduct in California, you are not alone, and you have legal rights and options for seeking justice and compensation.

Police Brutality Center can connect you with a California police brutality lawyer to take legal action. Our legal partners have over 50 years of combined experience in civil rights cases nationwide, with the skills and knowledge to meet your legal needs.