Why Law Enforcement Liability Insurance
by Jeff Harrison
Why Police Liability Insurance?
Police Officers take great physical risk every day serving and protecting communities all over America. The police officers that do this well get awards. However, a very small number of police officers that fall short of the high standards police officers hold will take away an American citizen’s Constitutional Rights. In the Civil Rights Act of 1871 there is a federal statute, numbered 42 U.S. Section 1983, which allows Americans to sue the government for civil rights violations. It applies when someone acting “under color of” state-level or local law has deprived a person of rights created by the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes. When a police officer uses excessive force that constitutes a valid claim under U.S. Section 1983 because it violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition against “unreasonable seizure”. The Supreme Court relies on the assumption that police officers are financially responsible for settlements and judgments entered against them. Even though key civil right doctrines rely on the assumption that police officers are personally liable to satisfy settlements and judgements entered against them, municipalities have paid approximately 99.98% of the dollars that plaintiffs recovered in lawsuits alleging civil rights violations by law enforcement, according to the law review titled “Police Indemnification” by Professor Joanna C. Schwartz.
Police officers are and have always been liable under U.S. Section 1983. The reality is Police Officers have always needed professional liability insurance. What is happening now is lawmakers are making it illegal for municipalities to indemnify police officers for a certain amount of a settlement or judgment. Colorado is the first by passing a law that makes police officers liable for 5% of a settlement or judgment at a max to the police officer of $25,000.
What is Happening with State Legislation?
Colorado is the first State to pass a law that holds law enforcement officers personally liable at a set monetary amount while Connecticut and Massachusetts have passed police reform bills that lower qualified immunity for law enforcement officers. Once law enforcement officers lose qualified immunity, they will desperately need to carry Professional Liability Insurance. Prymus Insurance has personally been in contact with the lawmakers in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Mexico and New York. New York Senator Biaggi has created a legislation that will make it mandatory for police officers to carry professional liability insurance.
Conclusion
Law Enforcement Liability Insurance provides a powerful tool to fulfill the high standards set in the U.S. Constitution and Civil Rights Act.