This course will expose you to a wide range of civil liability issues, with specific attention to civil liability concerns in the field training program.

You will learn the legal theories under which field training officers are brought into the civil liability spectrum.  We will provide you with a review of the assorted claims typically utilized against the field-training officer and those defenses that can be brought to aid in the agency's defense.  Finally you will learn corrective steps that can be taken to protect, improve and attempt to insulate the field-training program from civil liability exposure.

The course is designed for field training officers, field training supervisors, field training administrators and other training officers.

Please Note:  All students are asked to bring current department FTO training guidelines and criteria with them to this program.

Topics include:
The American Judicial Structure
•  The roles and hierarchy of the court systems
•  Personality of the United States Supreme Court in police related matters

General Theories of FTO and Training Liability
•  42 U.S.C. 1983 - The Civil Rights Act of 1964
•  State Tort Actions
•  Federal Constitution claims
•  State Constitutional claims
•  The anatomy of a civil suit

Getting to the Field Training Officer:  "How Plaintiff's Counsel Puts You in the Food Chain"
•  How lawyers write lawsuits
•  Vicarious liability issues
•  Identification of potential plaintiffs

Is There Any Good News?
•  Issues of sovereign immunity
•  Issues of qualified immunity
•  Issues of contributory negligence
•  Police officer Bill of Rights
•  Personal liability issues

The Training Liability Standards
•  High risk liability areas
•  Deliberate indifference to training and civil liability - Canton v. Harris, Walker v. N.Y.
•  Evidence of a failure to train
•  Warning signs of inadequate training
•  Illustrative cases
     - Firearms
     - Criminal procedure
     - Use of force
     - Emergency driving
     - Medical care
     - Criminal investigation
     - False arrest
     - Handling the mentally ill

The Seven Sins of Training Liability
•  Negligent hiring             
•  Negligent entrustment              
•  Negligent retention
•  Negligent assignment
•  Negligent appointment
•  Negligent supervision
•  Negligent training

The Need for Proper Documentation
•  Fadhl v. San Francisco Police Department
•  Burns v. Columbus Police Department
•  Kidd v. Illinois State Police
•  Beadle v. City of Tampa

Can Your Program Be Improved?  The Best Options to Consider
•  CALEA and other accreditation issues
•  The FTO selection process
•  The FTO training curriculum
•  Operational concepts of the FTO program
•  Documentation of progress and deficiencies
•  Standardized evaluation guidelines
•  Achieving uniformity through video techniques
•  Trainee written examinations
•  Trainee program critique forms
•  Remedial training issues

Supervisory Responsibilities and Concerns in the FTO Program

Employment Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in the FTO Program

Labor and Employment Law and Personnel Management Issues
•  Trainee Constitutional rights:  The 4th, 5th & 6th Amendments come home
•  Trainee due process concerns
•  The at-will, probationary and contractual employees
•  The legal issues of Garrity, Weingarten, Loudermill, LeChance

Group Workshops:  How Do You Stack Up?
•  Students work in assigned teams to critique their own programs and agencies
•  Group critique

Saving Money Through Training:  A Practical Example

Insulating the FTO Program
•  The minimum mandates for protection from successful civil litigation

Sources of additional information