NCJ Number
132698
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 39 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1991) Pages: 46-49
Date Published
1991
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A police department can now be sued by an officer if the department terminated the officer for refusing to perform an act he/she had not been trained to perform if that task had the potential for violating a citizen's constitutional rights.
Abstract
The failure to train and supervise officers has been the focus of many court decisions. In the City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court's decision restricts those job duties which can be assigned police officers by requiring officers to be trained prior to being assigned the task unless the task is one in which it is not likely that a citizen's constitutional rights could be violated. Before the initial training received by police can be effective, administrators must manage the conflict between departmental values and the values shared by police officers in a way that will result in the conflict being resolved in favor of departmental regulations. Clearly, officers should not perform tasks for which they have not been trained if such lack of training is likely to lead to incompetency that will violate a citizen's constitutional rights. Officers cannot be terminated for the refusal to perform tasks for which they have not been trained. If a department has no employee trained to perform a particular task, the department should refer the call to other public or private agencies competent to perform the task without a violation of the involved citizens' rights. 12 references