Negligence
Negligence
is one of the greatest sources of civil litigation (along
with contract and business disputes) in the United
States.
Negligence in public safety agencies occurs more frequent
than the general citizen may think. When the a public safety
angency shows up to help you it is expected that they know
what they are doing. Many times it appears like they do but
only to the outsider, i.e. - non-professional in the industry.
Just like other occupations the fire, police, emergency medical
departments have employees that are barely making the grade.
They are sometimes protected by the unions as well as the
general acceptance that their failures can be controlled or
diminished in-house. We're not talking just the rookie that
is learning to gain experience but seasoned veterans that
have held the job for years even though their performance
is inadequate at best. Many in-house employee jokes even refer
to their incompetence. If you're on the public receiving end
of such incompetence or suffer harm from such negligence then
it isn't very funny.
Pre-qualifying is not 100% effective
Public safety personnel such as firefighters, police officers,
paramedics, sheriffs, troopers, customs officers, forest rangers
and others, all must meet initial qualifications and testing.
Written, Oral, Physical and Psychological testing are all
common procedures for firefighter and law enforcement positions
because the agencies have a duty to the public. Most departments
and agencies do a thorough job in these tests and even hire
consultants or a consulting firm but they are limited and
cannot always be enough to prevent having those with negligent
tendancies from entering the ranks of law enforcement or firefighting.
Usually the new employee then has a 6 - 12 month 'probation'
period. It is during this time that the new employee's performance
and ability to perform to department standards is assessed.
Negligence is lessened because he/she is displaying best-behavior
& attitude. Unfortunately only the most professional departments
with very good leadership use this period for it's full intention.
Many fire and police departments consider the employee to
have 'passed probation' if there wasn't a significant negative
event or display of negligence. This is in contrast to assessing
overall performance for what the public expects for it's money
(i.e. - the BEST candidate or employee).
The result is that the employee is rubber-stamped on through
the system. After this period the firefighter, police officer
or sheriff is then 'off-probation' and any inadequacies, incompetence,
or other problems begins to grow. The employee is now comfortable
and doesn't need to be on his/her 'best behavior' for probation.
Now the seemingly minor infractions or deficiencies from
the previous years are in full view. Other officers have to
cover for situations, supervisors must spend more time checking
on their performance, and his/her work is generally poor.
This can be compensated by the employee by regular abuse-of-power
incidents, improper record keeping and reports, and regular
interaction with the public in a forceful manner. Friction
and criticism with co-workers, increasing public complaints,
and poor judgment in the field results.
Now the fire, police, or sheriff's department is in a situation
that would have been best handled during the first 6-12 months
(if possible) and documentation of the performance and job
rating is either ignored by the supervisor responsible (or
upper command staff) and it is never escalated to a level
that will intercede sufficient to correct the discrepancies
of the officer. Sometimes the incompetent employee is even
promoted or at least transferred out to become another supervisors
problem.
res
ipsa loquitor
"the thing speaks for itself"
Fortunately, many litigation cases
involving negligence will allow the attorney to uncover evidence
from prior performance that is crucial to showing the pattern
of the negligent firefighter, officer or police official.
Once found and put into perspective and sequence of events
the overall evidence will indeed 'speak for itself'.
Finding such evidence and documentation is sometimes buried
in innocuous records, reports, and inter-office memos or emails.
This is where a qualified expert
consultant or investigator is extremely important, especially
if a crime is involved (criminal negligence).
Incompetence
Incompetence can range from poor extrication methods from
a car wreck (there are standards for this) all the way to
having your entire home burned to the ground needlessly or
being hit by a speeding police car and be severely injured
or killed. Only a proper and thorough Investigation
can usually reveal such incompetent acts.
Yes, most all occupations have those employees that are
barely squeaking by the performance standards for their paycheck.
However, these are not all in a position to cause severe injury,
loss, or even death from their incompetence or negligent behavior.
Firefighters, Police and other law enforcement are.
The taxpayers are providing a very large salary for these
persons (averaging $5,000 - $7,000 per month for firefighter
or police officer) to perform their duties and it is reasonable
to demand service to professional standards. Along with such
reasonable demands is the expectation to not be harmed or
suffer loss at the hands of their public safety agency.
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