Police Accountability, Risk Management, and Legal Advising

189 Pages·2004·1.13 MB·English

by  Carol A. Archbold

Criminal Justice
Recent Scholarship

Edited by
Marilyn McShane and Frank P. Williams III

A Series from LFB Scholarly
This page intentionally left blank
Police Accountability, Risk
Management, and Legal Advising

Carol A. Archbold

LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC
New York 2004
Copyright © 2004 by LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Archbold, Carol.
Police accountability, risk management, and legal advising / Carol A.
Archbold.
p. cm. -- (Criminal justice)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59332-038-8 (acid-free paper)
1. Tort liability of police--United States. 2. Police legal advisors--
United States. 3. Police misconduct--United States. 4. Risk
management--United States. I. Title. II. Series: Criminal justice (LFB
Scholarly Publishing LLC)
KF1307.A97 2004
344.7305'2--dc22

2004005486

ISBN 1-59332-038-8

Printed on acid-free 250-year-life paper.

Manufactured in the United States of America.
Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Foreword ix

1. Introduction 1

2. Police Liability in the United States 9

3. Police Legal Advising & Risk Management:
Alternative Police Liability Management Tools 25

4. A National Study of Risk Management & Police Legal
Advising: Methodology and Theoretical Approach 57

5. Results of the National Study 77

6. Best Practices and Model Programs 103

7. Conclusions, Policy Implications, and Future Research 143

Appendices
A: Survey Instrument 161

B: Telephone Interview Questions 165

References 167

Index 177

v
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all of the law enforcement agencies that
participated in this study. The completion of this research project
would not have been possible without their cooperation. I am
especially grateful to all of the people that took time out of their busy
schedules to allow me to visit their agencies. Those individuals
include: Roger Haven and Michael Palmer of the Police Liability
Management Division of the Portland Police Bureau; Michael Stairiker
of the Bureau of Risk Management for the city of Portland; Lt. Scott
Johnson and Lori Douglas from the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department;
Kevin Brazile of the Legal Advisory Unit for the County of Los
Angeles; Lt. Ted Moody and Trish Diamond from the Risk
Management Division of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department; Walt Cannon of Rawlings, Olson, Cannon, Gormley, &
Desruisseaux; Deputy District Attorney Mitch Cohen of Las Vegas;
Judy Pitts of the Risk Management Office for Charlotte-Mecklenburg,
and Mark Newbold, police attorney for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Police Department.
I am grateful to the Dean of the Arts and Sciences, Dr. Michael
McKinney, for providing me with summer support to continue working
on this book. I am also grateful for the travel funds and research
support awarded to me from the Committee on Research in the Office
of Research and Sponsored Programs. My fellow colleagues in the
Social and Cultural Sciences Department have also provided unending
support and encouragement as I was writing this book (thanks Melissa,
Jane, Mary Ann and Jim). A special thanks to Dr. Melissa Schrift for
reviewing an early draft of this book.
I would also like to thank my mentor and friend, Dr. Samuel
Walker of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. During the time that I
worked with Sam, I learned how important it is to believe
wholeheartedly in every research project that I decide to take on.
Sam’s numerous projects and writings on police accountability issues
have inspired me to explore similar issues. The completion of this
research project, and ultimately, this book would not have been
possible without Dr. Walker’s support and advice.
And finally, I would like to thank my husband Jason for his
patience and understanding during the time that I was working on this
research project and book. Your support means the world to me.

vii
This page intention ally left blank
A Foreword by Dr. Samuel Walker

This book represents a pioneering exploration of important but largely
neglected aspects of policing and police accountability. The problem
of police misconduct has been with us since the first American police
departments were established about 170 years ago. Use of excessive
force, unjustifiable fatal shootings of citizens, and other acts of
misconduct continue to plague our society. They are also an important
part of the racial and ethnic tensions that pervade our communities.
While we have long known that these problems exist, we have only
recently begun to address them in a serious fashion.
The question before us is not whether we should do something
about police misconduct, but which remedy or combination of
remedies is most effective. In recent years we have made significant
progress in developing administrative controls over police use of force
and other aspects of policing that pose a threat to the life, liberty, and
well being of citizens. We have also developed a new tool, early
intervention systems, to identify patterns of misconduct and do
something about them. Finally, new forms of citizen oversight are
bringing an important element of external citizen perspective to
misconduct issues.
This book explores two important but long neglected
accountability mechanisms. As Carol Archbold’s research indicates,
the concept of police legal advisors first appeared more than thirty
years ago. But as she explains, the idea never fully developed. At the
same time, the idea of risk management is well established in other
areas of American life, particularly private industry and health care.
But it has never taken hold in American policing.
Carol Archbold’s book is an important contribution to the
literature on police accountability. It not only explains the concepts of
police legal advisors and risk management, but also provides valuable
data on what mechanisms currently exist in American police
departments - and even more important, what does not exist. I fully

ix