Innovations in police accountability: An exploratory study of risk management and police legal advising

This is the first study of the use of risk management and police legal advising to control police officer exposure to liability risks in some of the largest police agencies in the United States. More specifically, this study examines the prevalence of the use of risk managers and police legal advisors, some of the factors associated with the adoption, role, and perceived impact of such programs on police liability, professionalism, and accountability. The data used in this study comes from three sources including telephone interviews, surveys, and cases study site visits to three large law enforcement agencies that use risk management and police legal advising.; Data analysis revealed several major findings including: (1) Half of all U.S. law enforcement agencies that employ 200+ sworn officers employ a person or group with legal advising and/or risk management experience to manage police liability within their agencies; (2) Most law enforcement agencies have implemented police legal advisors and/or risk managers out of necessity in order to respond to the changes in the legal environment; (3) Police legal advisors and risk managers work together with police management to alter department policies, police training, and supervision over line officers to manage officer exposure to liability risks; (4) Police legal advisors and risk managers serve both proactive and reactive roles within law enforcement agencies; and (5) Most risk managers and police legal advisors believe that they have some kind of financial impact on department costs related to police liability incidents, however, roughly one-third of the agencies do not keep records of their impact on police liability.