THE NEED TO AUDIT TRAINING By Jack Ryan, Attorney, Co-Director LLRMI For many years, in response to failure to train claims, courts simply looked at training records to determine if officers had received training on the particular topic alleged to be deficient.  More recently, the trend has been for courts to more closely scrutinize the content of the training the officers have received to determine whether an officer has been properly trained.   These decisions make clear that there is a need for agencies to review the content of all training, irrespective of who is delivering the training. In light of [...]

In 2007, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Virden[i], in which the court examined whether transporting a drug suspect and his vehicle to another location to have a K9 sniff the exterior of the vehicle constituted a seizure that required probable cause.  The relevant facts of Virden are as follows: On May 4, 2005, police and DEA investigators planned to execute search warrants on nine properties located in Columbus, GA, including a residence on 17th Avenue. These properties were associated with Michael Adams, the target of a year-long drug investigation. In preparation, officers kept the [...]

On August 22, 2022, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided Watson v. State[i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to pretextual traffic stops, the use of confidential informants, and reasonable suspicion to expand the scope of a traffic stop.  The relevant facts of Watson are as follows: [F]ederal agents informed a police officer with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (“HIDTA”) Task Force that a confidential informant (“CI”) reported that Watson would be driving from Alabama to Atlanta to pick up between five and ten kilograms of heroin, cocaine, or both. Multiple law enforcement officers, [...]

On June 15, 2022, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided Williams v. State[i], which serves as instructive regarding whether felony-stop tactics by police constitute an unlawful, de-facto arrest.  The relevant facts of Williams are as follows: In January 2019, at approximately 1:34 a.m., an officer from the Douglasville Police Department was patrolling on I-20 East when he received a stolen tag notification from his vehicle‘s automated license plate reader. The alert came as three vehicles, seemingly traveling closely together, passed the officer while traveling in the center lane. The three vehicles, in order from back to front, were a [...]

On July 28, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Tyson v. Cnty. Of Sabine[i], in which the court had to decide whether a deputy’s sexual misconduct with a citizen was a constitutional violation and if so, whether the deputy was entitled to qualified immunity.  The relevant facts of Tyson are as follows: On September 18, 2018, Wade Tyson called the Sheriff's Department of Sabine County, Texas, to request a welfare check on his wife, Melissa Tyson ("Tyson"). Wade reported that he was out of town and worried about his wife, who was home alone and distressed. Defendant Deputy David [...]

On July 27, 2022, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Brown v. City of St. Louis[i], which serves as instructive regarding claims for false arrest of protesters.  The relevant facts of Brown are as follows: On March 11, 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, a privately owned venue. The event was ticketed, though tickets were free. Brown obtained a ticket and selected a front-row seat near the center of the stage. Although the exact number of attendees is not found in the record, Officer Boettigheimer testified in his [...]