Can Medical Reports Show Up the Boundaries of Legitimate Police Force?

In this article, we consider the effectiveness, in terms of denouncing illegitimate violence, of the procedure for screening police violence in relation to reports of traumatic injury which occurred in a prison medical unit. Using quantitative analysis of reports over two years, as well as interviews with different medico-legal personnel (particularly care personnel and the police ethics committee), we examine the rather weak potential of this procedure in relation to any denunciation of violence. Our results show that the conditions for making such denunciations are not realised because of the sociological profile of the victims, the type of violence committed and the particularities surrounding the screening reports.