1983 Action

California
Recently I had a search warrant served on me by a police Dept. The warrant was not endorsed for night service and there was nothing to support night service in the affadavit. The warrant was served shortly after midnight.
I am a Police Officer and the department wrote the warrant under the guise of investigating an alleged crime. I have not committed any crime and nothing is pending or has anything been filed against me. The department violated my Peace Officer rights (POBOR) under several sections and the warrant was thrown out in Superior Court along with several other parts of the investigation. I am adequately represented for the administrative actions that the Dept. is taking against me.
Now, do I have a slam dunk 1983 action against the city and each of the individual officers?. The Judge summed up in his decision that the department violated my rights and that one of the detectives lied in his declarations to the court. Obviously I am not happy with my Department and would love to follow all possible claims against them...

stipulation said:

California
Recently I had a search warrant served on me by a police Dept. The warrant was not endorsed for night service and there was nothing to support night service in the affadavit. The warrant was served shortly after midnight.
I am a Police Officer and the department wrote the warrant under the guise of investigating an alleged crime. I have not committed any crime and nothing is pending or has anything been filed against me. The department violated my Peace Officer rights (POBOR) under several sections and the warrant was thrown out in Superior Court along with several other parts of the investigation. I am adequately represented for the administrative actions that the Dept. is taking against me.
Now, do I have a slam dunk 1983 action against the city and each of the individual officers?. The Judge summed up in his decision that the department violated my rights and that one of the detectives lied in his declarations to the court. Obviously I am not happy with my Department and would love to follow all possible claims against them...

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My response:

You may, in fact, have a 42U.S.C.1983 action. However, before you file your civil complaint in Superior court, you need to file your Governmental Claim for Damages pursuant to the Government Code. You file against the city or the county, depending upon which type of entity runs your Department - - naming the city or county, and the specific officers who damaged you. Generally, no suit for money or damages may be brought against a government entity (or against a government employee acting in the scope of employment) unless and until a timely claim has been presented pursuant to the California Tort Claims Act and either acted upon or deemed rejected by the passage of time. [Ca Govt §§ 945.4, 950.2, 912.4]

You have 6 months from the date they came to your home within which to file. Then, you serve it to the clerk of the county or city, and they have 45 days within which to accept or deny liability.

There's much more to this, so speak to your attorney for further advice and representation.

IAAL

Thanks IAAL,
I realize there is a lot more to this, the warrant was served in January this year and we just ( Dec) had our decision from superior court. Hopefully the time will begin to toll from the day the decision was made in court. ( We have been trying to exhaust our administrative remedies first before we filed the writ). We claimed that the warrant was illegally served from the beginning but the Chief and everyone between us ignored the reasoning. ( or they didn't want to admit their liability) .
I still might lose my job, ( I'm a whistleblower cop) who is being held to policies that no-one else obeys but it'll make a bestselling book one day. ( ps, was shot twice by the same department a few years ago, once by a team member and then by my supervisor) so I have a lot to say.