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| 1983 lawsuit | A civil suit brought under Title 42, Section 1983, of the U. S. Code against anyone who denies others their constitutional right to life, liberty, or property without due process of law. |
| biological weapons | A biological agent used to threaten human life ( for example, anthrax, smallpox, or any infectious disease). |
| Bivens action | A civil suit, based on the case of Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Agents, brought against federal government officials for denying the constitutional rights of others. |
| civil liability | The potential responsibility for payment of damages or other court-ordered enforcement as a result of a ruling in a lawsuit. Civil liability is not the same as criminal liability, which means “ open to punishment for a crime.” |
| deadly force | The force likely to cause death or great bodily harm. Also, “ the intentional use of a firearm or other instrument resulting in a high probability of death.” |
| excessive force | The application of an amount or frequency of force greater than that required to compel compliance from a willing or unwilling subject. |
| intelligence-led policing | The collection and analysis of information to produce an intelligence end product designed to inform police decision making at both the tactical and strategic levels. |
| internal affairs | The branch of a police organization tasked with investigating charges of wrongdoing involving members of the department. |
| Knapp Commission | A committee that investigated police corruption in New York City in the early 1970s. |
| less-lethal weapon | A weapon that is designed to disable, capture, or immobilize— but not kill— a suspect. Occasional deaths do result from the use of such weapons, however. |
| NLETS | An acronym referring to the International Justice and Public Safety Information Sharing Network. |
| Peace Officer Standards and Training ( POST) program | The official program of a state or legislative jurisdiction that sets standards for the training of law enforcement officers. All states set such standards, although not all use this term. |
| police corruption | The abuse of police authority for personal or organizational gain. |
| police ethics | The special responsibility to adhere to moral duty and obligation that is inherent in police work. |
| police professionalism | The increasing formalization of police work and the accompanying rise in public acceptance of the police. |
| police subculture | the set of informal values which characterize the po-lice force as a distinct community with a common identity.” |
| police use of force | The use of physical restraint by a police officer when dealing with a member of the public. |
| police working personality | All aspects of the traditional values and patterns of behavior evidenced by police officers who have been effectively socialized into the police subculture. Characteristics of this often extend to the personal lives of law enforcement personnel. |
| private protective services | The independent or proprietary commercial organizations that provide protective services to employers on a contractual basis. |
| problem police officer | A law enforcement officer who exhibits problem behavior, as indicated by high rates of citizen complaints and use- of- force incidents and by other evidence. |
| racial profiling | Any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than [ 1] the behavior of an individual, or [ 2] on information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity. |
| Biscoe v. Arlington County | He was awarded $ 5 million after he lost both legs as a consequence of a high- speed chase while he was waiting to cross the street. Biscoe, an innocent bystander, was struck by a police car that went out of control. The officer driving the car had violated department policies prohibiting high-speed chases, and the court found that he had not been properly trained. |
| Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Agents | Established a path for legal action against agents enforcing federal laws, which is similar to that found in a 1983 suit. Bivens actions may be addressed against individuals but not against the United States or its agencies. |
| City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris | U. S. Supreme Court ruled that a “ failure to train” can become the basis for legal liability on the part of a municipality where the “ failure to train amounts to deliberate indifference to the rights of persons with whom the police come in contact.” 107 In that case, she was arrested and taken to the Canton, Ohio, police station. While at the station, she slumped to the floor several times. Officers left her on the floor and did not call for medical assistance. Upon release, her family took her to a local hospital, where she was found to be suffering from several emotional ailments. Harris was hospitalized for a week and received follow up outpatient treatment for the next year. |
| Graham v. Connor | The Court established the standard of “ objective reasonableness” under which an officer’s use of deadly force could be assessed in terms of “ reasonableness at the moment.” In other words, whether deadly force has been used appropriately should be judged, the Court said, from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene and not with the benefit of “ 20/ 20 hindsight.” |
| Hunter v. Bryant | Law enforcement officials who reasonably but mistakenly conclude that probable cause is present are entitled to immunity |
| Idaho v. Horiuchi | Federal law enforcement officers are not immune from state prosecution where their actions violate state law “ either through malice or excessive zeal.” The case involved FBI sharpshooter Lon Horiuchi, who was charged with negligent manslaughter by prosecutors in Boundary County, Idaho, following a 1992 incident at Ruby Ridge. |
| Malley v. Briggs | The U. S. Supreme Court held that a police officer who effects an arrest or conducts a search on the ba-sis of an improperly issued warrant may be liable for monetary damages when a reasonably well-trained officer, under the same circumstances, “ would have known that his affidavit failed to establish probable cause and that he should not have applied for the warrant.” The officer, rather than the judge who issued the warrant, is ultimately responsible for establishing the basis for pursuing the arrest or search. |
| Maurice Turner v. Fraternal Order of Police | The department began the testing after several police officers were linked to the investigation of a Brooklyn pharmacy suspected of illegally selling millions of dollars of steroids and human growth hormone. The courts have supported drug testing based on a reasonable suspicion that drug abuse has been or is occurring |
| Tennessee v. Garner | The Court held that the use of deadly force by the police to prevent the escape of a fleeing felon ( Fifteen year old suspect) could be justified only where the suspect could reasonably be thought to represent a significant threat of serious injury or death to the public or to the officer and where deadly force is necessary to effect the arrest. |
| criminal intelligence | The information compiled, analyzed, and/ or disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor criminal activity. |
