NCJ Number
145647
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (1993) Pages: 325- 337
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper analyzes the content of 1,359 police civil liability cases handed down by United States Federal District Courts from 1978 through 1990.
Abstract
The cases were all brought against the police under Title 42 of the United States Code, Section 1983, as opposed to civil liability under State or Federal tort law. A data classification system was developed to enable the content analysis to determine the longitudinal trends in these cases, the types of law enforcement agencies being sued, the prevailing parties, the allegations against the police, and the amounts of damages and attorney fees awarded to the successful plaintiffs. In addition, issues brought before the courts were classified, and high-risk areas of police behavior were identified in a longitudinal fashion. Findings revealed a substantial and sustained increase in the volume of civil liability cases against the police. In addition, the record of police departments in defending themselves in civil suits is not quite as good as previously reported in that police defendants lost the lawsuits at twice the rate reported in the literature. Police defendants were held liable in at least 8 percent of the cases decided by the Federal District courts. In these cases, the damage awards and attorney fees were substantial. Figure, tables, notes, 7 case citations, and 22 references (Author abstract modified)