The OpTac International News Bulletin is a complimentary service designed to provide critical information for tactical teams and their commanders. In this edition, we present the legal issue of deliberate indifference as it relates to negligent assignment.

 

In City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 109 S. Ct. 1197, the Supreme Court held, "Inadequacy of police training may serve as a basis for §1983 municipal liability only where failure to train amounts to deliberate indifference to rights of persons with whom police come in contact." To avoid negligent assignment an administrator/commander must be aware of the weakness of employees and therefore must not give them an assignment or require them to perform tasks in which they are not proficient.

   

Oftentimes, police personnel other than tactical team members supplement the team as part of the perimeter or immediate action team until additional team members arrive. If these officers are not properly trained on how to establish a perimeter on an emergency response operation or specifics of their responsibilities as part of an immediate action team, then the Chief of Police/Sheriff, tactical commander, and department may be open to civil liability for negligent assignment.

 

A case for negligent assignment and/or failure to train may be made if a policy or custom causes an injury. This is true even if the injury is to the law enforcement officer placed in the assignment. Lack of funding for training is not a defense for failure to train or insufficient training. Administrators, tactical commanders, and tactical team members should review policy and training to ensure liability issues are addressed.

 

The next edition of the OpTac International News Bulletin will present the legal issue of negligent entrustment. Liability prevention and legal updates are integral parts of our Tactical Command and Advanced Tactical Command Programs. They are presented to reduce individual and department liability while enhancing operational success. The current OpTac International 2007/2008 Training Schedule is listed below. New courses scheduled include:

For further information we invite you to visit www.optacinternational.com or call 443.61.OPTAC(67822). If you are interested in attending or hosting a program, please contact our office. We look forward to providing you with operational solutions.