Welcome to the Civil Liabilities Website

Just as no one person is above the law neither is any person below it. It seems that police officers once revered by the public are now micro-scrutinized for performing their law enforcement duties. Law enforcement activity whether it’s a minor contact or a justified shooting results in civil litigation. The legal process of the criminal case is vastly different from the civil lawsuit against the officer. There is a perception by law enforcement that the system is skewed against them. The second-guessing of law enforcement officers occurs in every civil case. The departments and officers are oftentimes at a loss as to why they are involved in litigation over conduct, which was good solid police work. The environment of police litigation shows an urgency for effective management of the civil litigation issues surrounding law enforcement.

The mission of CivilLiabilites.com is to provide assistance and guidance to law enforcement professionals from rank and file, middle and upper level supervisors and policy makers. It seeks to provide a forum for a discussion of topics and issues that are common in law enforcement. It also seeks to help those professionals that defend law enforcement officers and departments in civil litigation. The goals are to meet the current challenges of litigation by upgrading training and policy issues, addressing common issues that occur in law enforcement, to provide knowledge for a better legal defense of officers and departments at trial. This website and its newsletter seeks to level the playing field for law enforcement officers in the courtroom.

The purpose of our newsletters is to offer a discussion of problems and solutions for the myriad of issues facing law enforcement officers today. The issues facing law enforcement are diverse and all too often result in civil litigation against the officer and the department. The authors of this newsletter are current and former law enforcement officers and attorneys who defend civil rights litigation involving these same issues. Feel free to utilize the web site and provide feedback for the newsletter and future topics.