Effect and Cost Associated With 1983 Lawsuit
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Introduction
Under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, civilians have the right to sue the officers for the violation of their rights. The law is clear in the federal act of 42 U.S.C & 1983. The case brought under this act is the “Section 1983” lawsuit.
Section 1983 can relate to many situations, as the claim under this section doesn’t necessarily mean physical violation but also the claim from the public when they feel the victim of extreme forces from police officers.
Under Color State Law
This law comes into play when the officer use violate individual right while not on duty. Under this section, the victim has to convince the court that, when violating his right, the officer was taking advantage of the authority given by the state law.
Court has to consider several factors when deciding whether the officer was acting under “Color law” when the violation of civil rights take place (Mostaghel, 2010). Among the factors are:
- Whether the officer was on duty
- Whether he was having a uniform
- Did he used sate given equipment (Guns, handcuffs, and police car)
- Did he claimed to be an officer and/or
- Did he make an arrest
People who can be sued under 1983 lawsuit
- State and local officers
- Government workers
- Individuals who conspire with government workers
- Prison Wardens
However, federal officials will not be fall under section 1983 unless they act alongside state or local officials (Portillo et al., 2020). When they are on their own, the federal official is sued under “Bivens claim”
Training of Officers about the 1983 Lawsuit
Therefore, by thoroughly training officers through police academia, their frequencies of the officers mishandling the citizens using their sate given power can reduce (Sacco & Saxena, 2020). Officer can achieve the training from well-informed personnel who has been trained in the topic and have a perfect understanding of the 1983 lawsuit.
The training of the officers should be time and mission-oriented. This means that it should take a minimal amount of period rather than rushing it up (Mostaghel, 2010). It should be mission-oriented too, in the sense that it should involve all the types of situations that officers will tackle while on duty not just based on “Arresting criminals”. The police academia should be built based on interaction bases for the officers to acquire ultimate training and gain the ability to retain the knowledge.
Training increases the officers’ ability to win the confrontation, increase their confidence, and save them from breaking the rules making them save from the 1983 lawsuit (Portillo et al., 2020). Through training, society’s level of confidence in their officers will increase too.
According to state law, training police personnel is considered a crucial managerial responsibility. The court takes this to the next level by allowing the suing of municipalities that fail to train its officers. The court held the suggestions that the basic police training is not sufficient as the state-mandated training lucks standard and therefore, many areas of training are required to have a well-round officer.
How often should training take place and by who
Most probably such intensive training requires someone well versed with the law like an attorney, municipals can involve attorneys to train their personnel based on how they should handle the civilians and deal with the criminal too (Sacco & Saxena, 2020). Attorneys, with his vast knowledge about the state law, can easily train the officers and equip them with all the necessities of dealing with society.
Due to everyday changes, it is often advisable that the officer take part in training annually to update their skill and acquire a new one too (Portillo et al., 2020). Through this, officers can get ultimate confidence while dealing with the citizens.
The training should not be shallow; it has to involve law, first aid, blood transfusion service, rescuing, and search team. Through such training, police officers will become all-around and can deal with any situations with confidence (Mostaghel, 2010). Therefore, officers that work in an urban area and areas with many homicides should have some training on how to handle such situations and crime scenes.
However, it is not always enough to say the police department is properly trained without a clear document that states what they train about, the date, and who the instructor was. Documentation must be organized in a clear and conscious so that if he issued he can use it in a court of law as part of solid evidence that shows he has undergone training. Department policy, procedure manuals, and certifications need to be looked at and updated yearly or sooner if law changes.
Conclusions
A police officer’s duty is a demanding and challenging one, therefore, training them will ease their job and make them competent in what they are doing. The court has on several occasions hold the department with an obligation of training its officers. While officers have always considered themselves as professionals, they lack two vital elements; sufficient training and freedom of choice.
References
Mostaghel, D. (2010). Wrongfully Incarcerated, Randomly Compensated-How to Fund Wrongful- Conviction Compensation Statutes. Ind. L. Rev., 44, 503.
Portillo, Shannon, Domonic Bearfield, and Norma M. Riccucci. “The Disenfranchisement of Voters of Color: Redux.” Public Integrity (2020): 1-18.
Sacco, S., & Saxena, S. (2020). Permanently Residing Under Color of Law: A Practitioner’s Guide to an Ambiguous Doctrine. City University of New York Law Review, 23(2), 364-433.