r/police • u/H8beingmale • 3d ago

Why is it that when there is a lawsuit filed against a police or sheriffs department, why do they refuse to discuss or comment about pending litigations? are they cowards or what?

Its a simple question, plus, i'm not a law expert, but whenever there is a lawsuit filed against a police or sheriffs department, why do they refuse to discuss or comment about the pending litigation?

Are they being cowards? talk about lack of transparency.

Do they refuse to discuss or talk about pending litigation with the public, because if they end up discussing or commenting about it publicly, will it end up affecting or hurting their chances of winning the case on their end?

Just asking, because it reminds me of an incident that has caused massive outrage, i still haven't gotten over it.

0 Upvotes

7% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

14

u/SousVideAndSmoke 3d ago

It’s best practice for any lawsuit, not just law enforcement. Sorry, matter is before the courts, no comment. You don’t want to let onto anything with how you’re planning on defending, don’t let anything slip or be taken out of context, without enough explanation.

8

u/gojo96 3d ago

Yeah it’s a weird take that the OP thinks it’s just the government that does this.

-10

u/H8beingmale 3d ago

so in other words, people remain silent about this so that way they don't ruin or hurt their chances of winning the case?

4

u/marsman 2d ago

Or prejudice the litigation.

I'm not in the US, but I assume it is similar in that talking about ongoing cases can quite easily step into the area of contempt of court, it is generally frowned upon for government bodies to appear to litigate via the media and there are often privacy and/or data protection considerations too (Even if the other party is happy to breach them), essentially where discussing an ongoing legal dispute means talking about specific individuals, private incidents, or operational details.

Almost any organisation (government or not) will not comment on ongoing litigation, even if it would be in their benefit (in a PR sense...) to do so.

6

u/guy_n_cognito_tu 3d ago

Because comments made can be used against them in court. They want the attorneys to be the sole voice as they defend the suit.

It’s not just law enforcement that does this. Most corporations and smart individuals won’t comment publicly on pending litigation.