Relentless advocacy when
police cross the line.

Police shootings and excessive force are not new. Most incidents never make headlines, and many families never receive recognition, let alone justice. The harm is immediate and lifelong: physical injuries, grief, lost income, and the trauma of being denied dignity by those sworn to protect it.

At McEldrew Purtell, we stand with victims and families to turn pain into accountability. We move quickly to secure evidence, challenge official narratives, and elevate voices that would otherwise be ignored. Our goal is twofold: deliver justice in the individual case and drive change that prevents the next one.

Accountability is more than a verdict or settlement. It means honest answers about what happened, financial recovery that reflects the full scope of harm, and pressure on agencies to reform policies, training, and supervision. By combining rigorous investigation with experienced trial advocacy, we pursue outcomes that deter future misconduct and help rebuild trust—case by case, community by community.

Police Shootings:
Patterns We See

These incidents rarely arise from a single bad decision. They often start with miscommunication (conflicting commands from multiple officers, language barriers, or sensory overload in a high-stress moment) and escalate through hair-trigger responses.

Training that prioritizes rapid dominance over de-escalation, plus a culture that normalizes aggressive tactics, can turn ordinary encounters into life-threatening ones, even when community members are compliant, unarmed, or in clear distress.

Illustrative Cases & Our Role in Accountability

Notorious cases like Amadou Diallo and Philando Castile became national touchstones because they reveal a broader pattern: routine stops, wellness checks, or mistaken-identity encounters spiraling into irreversible harm.

We expose where communication failed, where policy and training fell short, and where choices—moment by moment—violated constitutional limits. By reconstructing each decision point with independent experts and evidence, we turn a “split-second” narrative into a clear record of what should have happened—and who must be held accountable.