Police civil liability is one of the more complex areas of civil law. Because of their unique position in society, police officers have to be free to engage in behavior that would be tortious if it was committed by people outside of law enforcement. However, that same unique societal position means that those in law enforcement are given opportunities to abuse power that others do not have. The apparent dichotomy of those two realities is that people need a way to seek redress from law enforcement for violations of civil liberties, while those in law enforcement need to be able to do their jobs without fearing that every action will trigger a successful lawsuit. Society has decided to balance the two competing needs by providing ways for complainants to seek legal redress for harms done to them by law enforcement officials, while also providing some immunity and limited defenses for law enforcement officials accused of wrongdoing as part of their work.
There are two basic ways for a person to sue a member of law enforcement. The first option is to file a tort lawsuit in state court. A tort lawsuit alleges that the member of law enforcement has committed a tortious act against the person filing the suit. Torts laws vary by state, but torts that are likely to appear in state civil suits against law enforcement officials include assault and unlawful detention. A tort lawsuit is preferred by plaintiffs for many reasons. "Torts can only be settled by money awards and the standard of proof is preponderance of the evidence" (Stevens, 2004).
"Torts are civil wrongs recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. These wrongs result in an injury or harm constituting the basis for a claim by the injured...
Civil Liability The issue of the use of force and civil liability amongst police officers has been the subject of debate for many ears. The Rodney King trial and subsequent riots brought a great deal of attention to the excessive use of force and the justice system. In the years since the Rodney King case, there have been many incidents of excessive force. The use of force and civil liability is problematic
Civil Liability Associated With Policing Civil liability and policing The law enforcement agencies and their officers are widely trusted for upholding the law and implementing the requirements of the law as well as protecting the innocent citizens from those who may want to break the law. However, several instances have seen the law enforcement agencies or officer fall in the trap of facing litigation. Civil liability remains a concern within American policing
Civil Liability of Security Personnel MOONLIGHTING Current statistics reveal that private security personnel are twice the number of public law enforcers (Moore, 1987). Of utmost consideration is that these private security personnel are put in charge of, and authorized to, protect the lives and property of customers. They need to realize the magnitude of this responsibility. And without adequate training, that realization is hardly possible. They are not law enforcers or peace
Civil versus Criminal Liability Introduction Criminal justice practitioners do have a civil liability that puts them at risk of being sued by the public. The purpose of civil liability is to encourage accountability and responsible in the field of criminal justice. For that reason, “local governments can now be held liable for the conduct of police officers and jail personnel. In addition, sheriffs, police chiefs, and mid- level supervisors can be held
It is also a cloudy issue as to whether a company can terminate employment if an individual commits and is convicted of a crime while they are in the employment of the company. If such a crime were a low level crime, that could be thought of as a "gateway" crime such as possession of pornography, soliciting prostitution or prowling, but not a crime sufficient to be made public
Excessive Force Liability The International Association for the Chiefs of Police (IACP) has maintained an updated model policy on the use of force for over two decades (Hough & Tatum, 2012). A number of 'use of force' policies implemented by policing agencies can be found online, but the basic tenets are the following: (1) use only the minimum amount of force necessary to bring a situation under control, (2) deadly force
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