Officer Liability Paper

Officer Liability

Officer Liability Paper

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Officer Liability Paper

Police officers are public servants tasked with keeping the public safe and dealing with the criminal element. While police officers are held to a higher standard over the average citizen they are still human and make mistakes. Police officers can be liable for their bad or poor actions and face civil and in some cases criminal liability. The concept of qualified immunity involves shielding a police officer from civil liability where the officer’s actions do not violate the constitutional rights of the citizen. If the police officer has violated the rights of the citizen in order for them to be considered liable they must have been aware of the right that was violated.

Since police officers are knowledgeable on the rights of the citizen any constitutional violation will result in their vulnerability to being sued or tried as criminals. Despite the fact police are held liable for their bad actions juries and judges hesitate to hold them liable resulting in criminal charges being dropped or lawsuits being lost not matter how bad the behavior. A perfect example is the case of Rodney King. The whole world watched the videos of eight police officers beating a criminal suspect almost to death despite the fact the suspect was not even resisting.

Despite the horror of the video of the police beatings each of these police officers were charged criminally and each was found not guilty by a jury. So even having definitive proof of police acted badly does not necessarily mean they will be held responsible for their bad actions. In the case of the Town of Castle Rock the plaintiff Jessica Gonzales was denied her due process rights and so were her three murdered daughters when police refused to enforce the restraining order against her husband. Simon Gonzales kidnapped the three little girl and despite repeated calls to the police station police refused to act.

After Simon Gonzales arrived at the police station and fired at police being killed police found the bodies of the three little girls in the back seat. The little girls were killed a few hours previously. Jessica Gonzales sued the police claiming they knowingly failed to perform their duties which were to enforce the TRO and due to this refusal to act violated the plaintiff’s due process rights and those of her children were violated by the police. Police in this case were afforded qualified immunity because even though there was a constitutional violation, police liability is a two step test.

The two step test for police liability involves first there must be a constitutional violation and secondly police must have understood the action could create a constitutional violation (Ryan, 2006). In the case of Town of Castle Rock vs. Gonzales the court of appeals found police could not understand the language of the TRO required a mandatory response and when they failed to respond. Police were not held responsible for the deaths of these three little girls and a message was sent police will never be held responsible for their behavior no matter how they act. Police in this case knew they had an obligation to act especially after the Father failed to bring the children home at 10pm and 12pm.

In the case of Brosseau v. Haugen the criminal suspect fleeing police was shot in the back by Officer Brosseau. The criminal suspect, Haugen, sued the police officer based on an excessive force claim. Despite the fact the police officer clearly shot the suspect in the back she was given qualified immunity. The concept of qualified immunity involves shielding a police officer from a lawsuit where the officer’s actions do not violate clearly established federal rights (Ryan, 2013). The 9th Circuit court reversed the ruling of the lower court finding the police officer did violate the claimants constitutional rights and id understand shooting a officer in the back was excessive. The Supreme Court reversed this decision and the police officer was provided with qualified immunity.

Time and time again police officer commit bad acts or violate constitutional rights without any consequences. Police officers play a critical role in society but without checks and balances police would be able to run wild. Police officers need to be aware if they fail to use good judgment or blatantly ignore the rights of the citizen they have the risk of facing civil or criminal liability. In the case of Town of Castle Rock police were negligent and should have been held civilly liable for their actions. If a civilian had been as negligent as to allow the deaths o three children police would want justice. The mother of those children deserved justice and the police deserved disciplining.

In the case of Brosseau the police officer was less certain of the actions she should take especially due to the erratic behavior of Haugen and the potential threat he posed to other in the community but shooting suspect in the back while fleeing the scene is never the best response. Due to the uncertainty of the situation the officer was immune. Instead the officer should have been better trained on what to do when a suspect flees a crime scene. Police should never be free of liability unless immune and citizens should never be denied the right to sue the police officer, police department, or state for perceived bad actions of police.

References

Ryan, J. (2013).Qualified Immunity in Use of Force Cases United States Supreme Court.

Retrieved August 13, 2013 from

http://policelink.monster.com/training/articles/2097-qualified-immunity-in-use-of-force

Ryan, J. (2006). Over of Police Liability. Retrieved August 13, 2013 from

http://www.llrmi.com/articles/legal_update/liabilityoverview.shtml