By Todd Duncan, Law Enforcement and Safety Specialist
In today’s world of law enforcement and corrections, putting out fires can consume a much of a leader’s time and attention. Consequently, public safety leaders must prioritize where they focus their efforts and scarce resources. Whether you recently took office or are a veteran leader, the following is intended to draw attention to the six primary areas of liability protection and provide a roadmap to help you zero in on those areas that have the most impact on safety, risk, and liability.
Policy and Procedure
Policies provide the foundation for operations and serve as a critical component of effective risk management and loss prevention. Sound policies are based on the law (federal and state constitution, circuit court rulings, state statutes, etc.) and professional thinking. NIRMA offers a comprehensive set of model policies and procedures for law enforcement and jail operations. Regardless of where your policies come from, it is important that they are tailored to your specific agency and accurately reflect day-to-day practices. The environment of law enforcement and corrections is always changing. When was the last time your policies were reviewed and updated? Policy review can be a time-consuming task, so why not start with the policies for high risk, critical tasks? These include:
- Response to Resistance (Use of Force)
- Duty to Intervene
- Vehicle Pursuit & Emergency Vehicle Operation
- Stop, Arrest & Search of Persons
- Transportation & Restraint of Prisoners
- Domestic Violence Misconduct & Domestic Violence Investigations
- Off-Duty Actions
- Sexual Harassment, Sexual Discrimination, Sexual Misconduct
- Hiring Practices
- Internal Affairs
- Dealing with Persons of Diminished Capacity
- Property & Evidence
Training
Even the best policies are of little use unless leaders regularly review them with employees. These reviews can be a simple 10-minute discussion at the beginning of each shift or more in-depth reviews during scheduled training. Are you prioritizing the above-mentioned critical high-risk critical tasks when planning training? Is training documented to capture attendee names, instructors, topics covered, number of hours, date(s) of training, etc.? Do the number of training hours accurately reflect the areas of highest risk? For instance, in many agencies, the number of training hours provided to members of specialized units (i.e., SWAT, CSI, etc.) often dwarf the number of hours allotted to patrol deputies, yet common patrol activities like pursuits, use of force, search and seizure represent a large portion of agency liability.
Supervision
First line supervisors are some of the most important members of any organization. They have a tough job of building rapport with employees while at the same time enforcing agency policies fairly and consistently. How engaged are your supervisors? Do they show up at the complex or priority calls to provide leadership or coaching when appropriate? Do they perform periodic reviews of body worn and in car video? First line supervisors are a vital link in the chain of command.
Performance Management
Regular, documented employee performance evaluations create a culture of high performance and accountability. Meaningful performance management is essential to developing employees, building high performing teams, and minimizing individual and agency liability exposure. Are your performance reviews based on substantive data such as commendations and complaints; video reviews; use of force statistics; pursuit data; preventable crashes; quality of reports; and prosecution rates on citations/arrests; or are they based on a list of numerical scores predictably hovering in the “acceptable” or “3” zone? Another way to jumpstart a performance management program is to focus on policies, training, and positive leadership to develop employees into high performers.
Review and Revision
Even in a smaller agency, it is critical to continuously review what is going on within the agency in areas such as employee safety, risk management, and loss prevention. As former IBM Chairman Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. once said, “People don’t do what you expect but what you inspect,” or as former President Ronald Regan often said, “Trust but verify”.
Legal Counsel and Updates
All successful public safety leaders have one thing in common—they take a proactive approach to staying abreast of changes at the federal and state levels. The law is a moving target. What is acceptable today may be declared unlawful tomorrow. Consider whether you are taking advantage of the many free legal resources tailored to law enforcement and corrections available online. Some ideas include: LLRMI, Lexipol, Daigle Law Group, Blue to Gold, AELE, Xiphos, etc. Maintaining a professional, collaborative working relationship with your county attorney is not only important to the success of your cases but also to avoiding potential liability or legal pitfalls. Lastly, the NIRMA Legal Link offers confidential consultations on non-employment matters with civil legal implications. The answering attorneys will collaborate with your County Attorney, when appropriate, to provide sound, proactive legal assistance related to county government and related agency operations. Member county officials and supervisory personnel have at their disposal unlimited access to NIRMA’s Legal Link. For more information on this resource, call 402.742.9240 or email legallink@nirma.info.
Call to action
Today’s law enforcement and corrections leaders face many difficult challenges and oftentimes resources are spread thin. Think about it: what is a first step you can take to start the journey of implementing all six layers of liability protection within your agency? Perhaps it is initiating a basic review and revision of your policies covering the twelve high risk critical tasks listed above. Maybe it is having supervisors use the beginning of each shift to facilitate a brief team discussion on a core policy to make sure everyone is on the same page? Why not subscribe to some of the free legal update resources included in this article to stay abreast of legal trends, case law, etc.? Or how about a simple upgrade to your performance management process that involves regular coaching and feedback sessions based on substantive data such as the areas listed above? Maybe it is a half day leadership retreat where the command staff meets with sergeants or first line supervisors to discuss the agency’s mission, vision, and values while encouraging feedback, setting expectations, and exploring ways to enhance operations while reducing risk. Applying all six of these layers of liability protection at once can be intimidating if not unrealistic, but as they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. So, what is your first step?
