Police Liability: What Leading Law Enforcement Executives Need to Know

• NCJ Number: 188246
• Journal: CALEA Update Issue: 65 Dated: September 1997 Pages: 6-9-13
• Author(s): James J. Fyfe Ph.D.
• Date Published: September 1997
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes critical law enforcement liability areas requiring clear policies, training and practices to assure professional law enforcement standards of care are met reducing potential exposure to liability.

Abstract

Police policy and training should be designed to help police achieve their primary responsibility, protecting life. The first lines in most police manuals suggest that the most important police mission is their duty to protect life. This article states that for generations police administrators steered away from writing policies. Their reasoning was one of protection. If there were no guidelines for action then there could be no violations or misconduct, and therefore no liability. In addition, it was thought that committing policies to paper limited the officers’ courses of action and invited liability when rules were not followed. This philosophy was viewed as inexcusable. Recent court rulings opened the eyes of law enforcement agencies to the absence or inadequacy of policy and/or training creating a greater liability risk. There are several critical areas in law enforcement demanding clear policies, thorough training, and meaningful accountability mechanisms. These areas are: (1) deadly force; (2) non-lethal force; (3) vehicle pursuit and emergency driving; (4) responding to domestic violence; (5) restraining and transporting prisoners; (6) off-duty conduct; and (7) citizen complaint procedures. The article clearly states that nothing is an absolute guarantee against police liability, but the best way to protect a law enforcement agency is to assure that the professional law enforcement standard of care is reflected in its policies, training, and practices. Standards of care are used to determine whether there is merit to lawsuits against members of an organization. This article attempts to describe methods which law enforcement administrators can reduce their exposure to liability.