Background

Law enforcement personnel have always been, and always will be, exposed to physical risk in the line of duty. There is an irreducible minimum amount of danger associated with the profession, and those who choose a career in law enforcement do so with the knowledge that the possibility of physical injury or death will always be present.

In the late 1960's and during the 1970's the incidence of line-of-duty injuries rose sharply. In particular, deliberate attacks upon officers increased at an alarming rate. Between 1965 and 1980 the total number of reported felonious assaults on city, county and state police officers increased from 20,523 in 1965 to 57,847 in 1980. The number of officers killed by felons increased from 53 in 1965 to 104 in 1980, an increase of almost 100 percent. Assaults which resulted in serious injuries rose from 6,836 in 1965 to 21,516 in 1980, an increase of almost 300 percent. Although these trends have moderated somewhat in the 1980's and 1990's, the fact remains that today the risk of assault, injury or death still continues to be very much a part of the law enforcement profession.

Less widely publicized, but perhaps equally disturbing, is the remarkable rise in the number of verbal attacks on police officers in this country. While it is difficult to obtain exact figures, it is apparent that within the past few years American police officers (and police organizations) have been subjected to a rapidly escalating barrage of malicious and unfounded public accusations, including both false official complaints and defamatory statements published through the news media. While attacks of this nature cause no direct physical injury to the officer concerned, the damage to the officer's reputation and career, and the protracted legal entanglements which may result from false charges, are often extremely detrimental to the mental, financial, and even physical health of the accused officers and their families.

In spite of the number of assaults, physical and verbal, which have been inflicted upon them, American law enforcement personnel have not generally attempted to utilize the civil courts as a source or redress for the wrongs done to them. While a certain number of civil suits have been brought over the years by police officers for job-related injuries, the number of actions filed is microscopic in comparison with the number of injuries being suffered. The civil remedy simply has not been the tradition response of the American police officer to line-of-duty injuries.

There are several clearly identifiable reasons for this non-user of the civil courts, and an examination of these reasons is essential to anyone who may be called upon to advise an injured officer about civil remedies.

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