Compelled Substance Abuse Testing
Over the past fifteen years, the United States Supreme Court has shown an extreme degree of approval for “special needs” administrative searches for substance abuse.i At the outset it should be noted that these searches are done for administrative purposes and are not done in an effort to obtain evidence of criminal wrongdoing. In Skinner v. Railway Labor, the United States Supreme Court reviewed rules regarding substance abuse testing by the Federal Railroad Administration. The rules allowed testing under two distinct circumstances. The first circumstance called for testing in certain train accidents (triggering factor) resulting in deaths, injuries or property damage. [...]
Tracking Group Behavior Via Early Intervention Systems
Since the late 1970’s police departments nationwide have developed Early Intervention Systems (EIS) to monitor individual officers’ actions which might be indicative of stress. Stress issues can potentially manifest into problems on the street. These EIS have become very sophisticated in many agencies with numerous triggers ranging from a minimum of tracking complaints and use of force, to tracking preventable accidents, performance issues and utilization of sick leave to name a few. The Phoenix Police Department and Pittsburgh P.D. are examples of very complex systems, which monitor officers on a daily basis. It appears, however, that a void exists in [...]
Liability Exposure in Special Operations
Many police operations have the potential to create liability exposure for an agency; however certain types of operations have an exponential likelihood of creating claims. One area of high liability is the decision to use a SWAT team.i In considering whether or not a SWAT type team is appropriate for an agency several considerations should be examined. An agency must have sufficient resources before such a team should be undertaken. Smaller agencies may not have sufficient personnel to provide an appropriate number of candidates in order to have a meaningful selection process. The agency may not have the personnel in [...]
Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Discrimination
The Need for Policy and Training Utilizing the Walker formula previously cited: Does the policy-maker and/or trainer know to a moral certainty that officers will face situations that may involve sexual harassment, discrimination or misconduct in the law enforcement profession? Would an officer be better equipped to deal with these situations if trained and directed by policy? Is there likely to be an injury (legal, psychological, or physical) if the officer makes the wrong choice? Are we on notice? Consider some cases: Lewis v. City of Jacksonvillei “This lawsuit originates from allegations that Defendant Larry Pugh sexually assaulted Plaintiff Evelyn Lewis in [...]
Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Discrimination
The Second Brass Ring-Failure to Train Police agencies have an obligation to train its police officers for the recurring tasks that officers will face during their career. Where it is foreseeable that a police officer will face a particular task that may result in harm to another person, the officer’s agency must provide training in how to conduct that task in a manner which is consistent with generally accepted practices in law enforcement. What is “generally accepted” is defined by the law enforcement profession and by court decisions analyzing police conduct. Training serves as a means toward high-level performance by [...]
Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Discrimination
Policy v. Custom/Operational Policy Most police agencies around the United States have made great efforts in developing policies and procedures for their departments. The most important policies and procedures are those that impact “high risk/ critical tasks.” High risk/ critical tasks are those recurring police operations that expose the police agency to liability. While most agencies have formal policies that are consistent with the clearly established law and generally accepted police practices, many agencies operations do not coincide with their formal written policy. The agencies operate instead on customs/practices or “operational policies” that may not be consistent with the law [...]