NCJ Number
203069
Journal
The Law Enforcement Trainer Volume: 17 Issue: 5 Dated: September/October 2002 Pages: 12-16,18,19
Date Published
September 2002
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article assesses guidelines for reform and accountability put forth by the United States Justice Department for the purpose of limiting municipal liability.
Abstract
In policing today, administrators are asked to do more with less, leading to an emphasis on agency-wide accountability, supervision, and discipline in order to reduce risk and liability. The article offers three cases identified through a LEXIS search of recent 6th Circuit Appellate cases that deal with allegations of police misconduct and liability issues. The first case confronts the issue of contempt of cop, the second deals with custom or practice of inadequately addressing citizen complaints, and the third reviews the reasonable officer standard. Following the presentation of these cases, the article addresses Federal guidelines for implementing best police practices. The guidelines arose from an investigation of citizen complaints regarding constitutional rights violations by the police. Next, the article presents various legal risk management and proactive risk management strategies, including the employment of specific training techniques and the establishment of an early warning system that tracks rule infractions and citizen complaints. The author asserts that in order to reduce municipal liability, police training must focus on the service oriented functions of policing in order to reconnect with the occupational duties of law enforcement officers.