Cops Charged Criminally: Does the Graham Standard & Qualified Immunity Apply in My Jurisdiction?

There is a partial, if not complete misunderstanding of when and how officers are protected under two cornerstone legal decisions that impact officer and departmental liability. This confusion seems to be prevalent among many chiefs, sheriffs, legal advisors and officers.

The Graham standard (Graham v. Connor, 1989) established that “the ‘reasonableness’ of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.”

Many believe Graham always applies. But DOES it? What if an officer is charged criminally?

Qualified Immunity is another important protection for police officers…but do you REALLY understand how it works and when it applies? Even top administrators are often confused.

Knowing what law will be used to judge an officer’s conduct in a criminal prosecution is important!

Top law enforcement attorneys Laura Scarry and Scott Wood and Calibre Press’s Jim Glennon will explore questions and share answers that will clarify the crucial and complex realities of these two decisions.

INSTRUCTED BY:

Among other issues, this elite team will discuss:

• Advice for law enforcement leaders, attorneys and officers to follow to help avoid a sudden and unexpected realization that an officer is NOT protected under the Graham standard and/or Qualified Immunity.
• Criminal vs. civil use of force cases and when the Graham standard does—and does not—apply.
• Levels of force and the impact on determining Graham standard: defining “necessary” force and “reasonable” force.
• Dealing with and protecting against “Could have, should have, would have” thinking.

• Is your training unintentionally leaving your officers ignorant of the laws they must fully understand and susceptible to a dangerous level of misunderstanding? If so, how can you fix that?

• Identifying and clarifying misinformation like: The law says an officer must exhaust all other levels of force before using deadly force. NOT true!

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