To the Editor: The City Council just passed legislation that repealed qualified immunity for police officers. Qualified immunity for police officers means that those performing discretionary functions are immune from civil lawsuits unless it is proven that the officer violated statutory or constitutional rights that a reasonable police officer would have known about.
The repeal of qualified immunity, if signed into law by Mayor de Blasio, will put cops at risk of being personally liable for monetary damages if an officer is named in a lawsuit. Many lawsuits against police officers are frivolous and will eventually fail or be dismissed, but the fear of being sued and held personally liable for damages will drastically reduce proactive policing.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you have an active digital subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password, if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print-only subscriber, and want access to our website,click here to view your options for changing you subscription level.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
