NCJ Number
167859
Journal
Criminal Law Bulletin Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: (July-August 1997) Pages: 352-376
Date Published
1997
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Cases involving sexual assaults by police are examined with respect to their implications for individual and municipal liability and the responsibilities of police administrators for controlling this form of police crime, and policy guidance for police agencies interested in controlling their exposure to municipal liability.
Abstract
Most police sexual violence cases are litigated as civil rather than criminal cases. The issue of the minimal level of supervision, monitoring, investigation, and remedial action required of police executives to avoid municipal liability is particularly relevant in cases of police sexual assault, because police administrators are often placed on notice about sexual misconduct long before official evidence of criminality is well documented. Municipal liability will attach when a history of formal complaints of police sexual misconduct is present and when an agency avoids, ignores, or covers up this misconduct by failing to take appropriate disciplinary, corrective, or remedial action to prevent future abuses. Therefore, police supervisors should be proactive and investigate problem officers when signs of sexual abuse are emerging, but a clear pattern of abuse has not yet been established. Police administrators must also remember the differences between administrative and criminal investigations; agencies must also develop early warning systems that specifically target behavioral problems. Case examples and footnotes