LEGAL UPDATE
and Law Enforcement Best Practices
Length of Seminar: 2 Days
Instructors: Jack Ryan, or Shaun Santos
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Over the last two decades law enforcement agencies and individual
law enforcement officers in the United States have been
the subject of intense public scrutiny. The litigious condition
of American society has been a key factor in this scrutiny.
The very nature of police work I.e. use of force; high-speed
driving and pursuits; and arrest, lends itself to complaints
and lawsuits from those that law enforcement officers have
contact with.
Law enforcement officers must have a working
knowledge of the developing laws relating to police civil
liability and discipline. Officers must be aware that they
may be held accountable for decisions made by a court having
jurisdiction over them. It is the developing law that guides
police training, operations, individual conduct and operations.
A failure to recognize the importance of this area of the
law can lead to serious monetary consequences for individual
police officers, supervisors, police executives and police
agencies as a whole. In extreme cases, a failure to follow
the rules set forth by the courts can result in criminal
sanctions.
The course is structured in such a way as
to assist officers and agencies in making an assessment
of their particular level of risk-exposure by examining
court decisions that have interpreted acceptable standards
of conduct by officers.
Overview of the Legal
Developments in Liability for Government Entities:
The explosion of litigation against law enforcement officers
and agencies over the last two decades is the direct result
of decisions made by the United States Supreme Court. This
segment offers participants, an overview of the liability
exposure facing police in today’s society and provides
the historical background of the law’s development.
Tort Law and the
Police: In addition to civil rights claims against
officers, claims alleging a violation of state tort law
seeking money damages are often brought against officers
and departments. This portion of the program is designed
to give participants a general understanding of the types
of claims that are generally brought against officers and
agencies.
Use of Deadly and
Non-Deadly Force: Perhaps the most critical task
from the standpoint of liability exposure for law enforcement
officers is the use of force. This segment will examine
the most contemporary cases on the use of force as well
as the foundation cases of Tennessee v. Garner and Graham
v. Connor in order to provide an updated understanding on
acceptable use of force standards. This segment will include
case studies on pepper spray; positional asphyxia; less-lethal
weapons and police K-9s. Participants will also be presented
with the developing law relating to review of police actions
leading up to the need for deadly force that may be sufficient
to find liability notwithstanding the reasonableness of
the use of deadly force at the moment of its use.
False Arrest/Malicious
Prosecution/Seizure of Persons and Property: This
part of the program will focus on cases where the arrestee
has not been injured by a use of force but nonetheless claims
a violation of rights based on an interference with his
or her person or property. This segment incorporates the
latest developments in the area of “racial profiling”
as it relates to liability.
Duty to Protect/Public
Duty Doctrine: An area of the law is often misunderstood
involves the belief that government actors and the police
have an absolute obligation to protect citizens from harm
caused by intervening third parties. Since the U.S. Supreme
Court’s decision in Deshaney v. Winnebago County it
has been clear that, except under limited circumstances,
law enforcement officers have no affirmative obligation
under the Constitution to protect citizens. This segment
will examine the existing law as well as the exceptions
that may expose an officer and his or her agency to liability.
Arrestee Suicides/Medical
Needs of Prisoners: Law enforcement agencies have
a duty to protect persons who are involuntarily detained.
This duty extends to arrestees who may attempt suicide aw
well as detainees that have medical problems that are exacerbated
by the failure to provide medical treatment. This part of
the course will examine, by a review of cases, the duties
of officers and agencies with respect to such detainees.
High-Speed Pursuit
and Emergency Vehicle Operation: Although the Supreme
Court severely limited the exposure of liability for high
speed pursuits as a Civil Rights matter in Lewis v. Sacramento,
there continues to be an onslaught of public scrutiny and
state tort litigation over pursuits and emergency vehicle
operation. This segment will examine Lewis v. Sacramento
as well as some of the high-profile policy changes that
have taken place in an effort to understand the extent of
liability with respect to this critical task in policing.
Liability of Supervisors:
Quite often first line supervisors are named as defendants
in lawsuits even thought they have no direct involvement
in the event itself. It is easy to understand liability
for decisions that directly impact the conduct at issue,
for example an order by a supervisor to use deadly force.
Perhaps more difficult is cases where a supervisor is named
as a defendant for his or her general failure to supervise.
This segment focuses on the liability of supervisory personnel.
Agency Liability:
This segment will focus on cases that establish the necessary
elements for agency liability in the civil rights arena
as well as the general requirements of state tort law.
Risk Assessment/Risk
Reduction: This portion of the course will examine
existing concepts in risk assessment and risk reduction
for agencies. It is sometimes said that the best defense
is an offense; agencies must be pro-active when it comes
to liability exposure.
Qualified Immunity:
Police officers and all government actors can avoid liability
for civil rights violations where it can be shown that the
law relating to the officer’s conduct was not clearly
established at the time the conduct was committed. This
segment examines the current law on qualified immunity as
it relates to law enforcement officers.
New Legal Trends
in the Area of Police Liability: The final segment
will examine the latest types of claims, defenses and other
issues facing the law enforcement community with respect
to liability. Due to the nature of law enforcement, this
particular segment is in constant evolvement.
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