Police Accountability

Police Misconduct

The term misconduct can mean almost anything. However, when referring to police misconduct, a general scale of misconduct can be employed to understand exactly what type of misconduct is being addressed. At the top of the list are criminal acts. This type of misconduct would include any criminal act, whether it was a misdemeanor, a felony, or a capital crime. When considering police officers, the relevant offenses generally include speeding, DWI (driving while under the influence [of alcohol or drugs]), assault, battery, extortion, conspiracy, and murder. As a general rule, simply because a person is a police officer does not excuse that person from criminal acts. Although police officers may be subject to criminal prosecution for civil rights violations and conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 242, these statutes are not frequently enforced.

Next on the list would be civil wrongs. These acts are more commonly known as torts. These torts occur when a person commits certain intentional or negligent acts that result in damages to another person. Relative to police officers, applicable torts may include assault, battery, false imprisonment, and wrongful death. Concerning negligence, they may include cruiser accidents. Many jurisdictions have laws that protect police officers from liability for civil wrongs. Many of these laws involve the principle of sovereign immunity, whereby a political entity or its officers cannot be sued. Some jurisdictions, however, will allow suits against individual police officers to proceed if the civil wrong was intentional as opposed to negligent.

Further down on the list are policy and procedural requirements. All police officers are subject to the administrative and policy and procedural requirements of their respective law enforcement agencies. Almost every law enforcement agency has a formal written set of policies and procedures to guide police officers in their job performance. Such policies and procedures usually include, but are not necessarily limited to, directions on processing cases, criminal investigations, emergency medical procedures, the law and procedures for searches and arrests, the use of force, the handling of prisoners, public relations, court procedures, and civil rights so as to ensure that all people are given due process and equal protection of the law. Police officers who fail to follow an agency's policies and procedures can be subjected to administrative discipline and punishment that may range from corrective training to termination of employment.

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