Civil Liability of Police Officers - 1970s LEO Training Film

VIDEO HERE  (23:33 minutes)

This 1970s color training film is part of a series produced by the Attorney General’s Office for the State of California with grants from the California Council on Criminal Justice and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration United States Department of Justice. It presents vignettes of potential officer situations and asks after each scenario whether the officer can 1) be sued for what he did, 2) have to pay for a lawyer, and 3) have to pay damages. 

The film opens with a Los Angeles Police Department LAPD police car -- appears to be a Ford Galaxie -- driving down a California city street and through a tunnel; a voiceover explains that the California Penal Code gives officers peace officer status state-wide, but is limited outside of department geographical limits. The Hotel Californian (3:06), a Gulf gas station (3:14). The video explains that officers can be sued and usually their employer will be financially liable if it was under scope of employment, except if the act was fraudulent or personal. The camera zooms in on Officer Miller’s face behind the wheel (3:37). OWL and Coca-Cola signs (3:57). Scenario 1: The police car makes an abrupt U-turn (4:16) and collides with another car. Bob Hale, cartoonist, draws a cartoon of the accident (4:44) and says because Miller was under the scope of employment, he can be sued, but will not have to pay out-of-pocket (5:58). Hale draws a Code 3 (lights/siren scenario) and says in this case, Miller cannot be sued. Miller gets out of his car, wearing a black uniform, and hits the driver he collided with in the face (6:55). Hale draws a punching cartoon and says Miller can be sued but the public entity (his work) will pay damages; Miller is responsible for punitive damages (8:22). Scenario 2: Miller approaches his bartender friend at a bar to make a robbery report, but also asks about $30 his friend owes him; Miller punches him in the face (9:07). Drawing an assault and battery cartoon (10:36), Hale explains since Miller was conducting personal business, he would pay lawyer fees and other damages. Scenario 3: Miller eats dinner with a lady and notices someone lift money from the till (11:57); he tackles the suspect and knocks over a woman in a white dress. Hale says assumption of liability for an off-duty officer depends on the city: Fresno vs. Los Angeles have different outcomes. Miller works as a security officer at a club where people dance (13:52); an officer can’t work as a peace officer for 2 employers at once. Miller picks a fight with a man and his girlfriend sitting at the bar (14:21). Without liability insurance, Miller has to pay his own fees. Miller plays an electric guitar onstage with a band (16:01). He notices a gun and dives into the crowd, but hits a bystander instead (17:08). Hale says this scenario varies on Miller’s sobriety and potential bystander injuries. Dolly, Hale’s assistant, brings him a director’s chair to sit (18:31). Cartoons show federal Civil Rights Act violations with which officers can be charged, such as unlawful arrests (18:45). A cartoon hand explains officers are immune from malicious prosecution in state but not federal courts (19:21). The film ends with Hale sitting next to Miller as he drinks beer at a bar.