The ways in which police officers may abuse their
power are numerous and varied. The two classic cases are
false arrest and excessive force. But there are other kinds
of police misconduct as well. For instance, supervisors
may hire or send into the field inexperienced or
incompetent officers whose actions later prove costly or
even deadly. Officers may show indifference to complaints
of recent crime victims or those in need of immediate
medical assistance. Further abuse may occur when a
victim of police misconduct is prosecuted for a crime he or
she did not commit, giving rise to the cause of action
known as malicious prosecution.
What follows is a list of possible causes of action that
can arise from police misconduct, a brief summary
describing the nature of these claims, the kind of facts that
give rise to the particular cause of action, and case law
which supports these causes of action. Chapters 11 through
14 will provide more details about the requirements of the
most common causes of action: false arrest, assault and
battery/excessive force, negligence and malicious
prosecution.
While this list covers the most common causes of
action that arise from police misconduct, it is important to
keep in mind that a single instance of police misconduct
can give rise to more than one cause of action based on
different legal theories. Counsel must be creative in
crafting the causes of action that match the kind of
misconduct that occurred.