The police owe members of the public a duty of care. This means that If the police act in a way that is in breach of their duty of care — and you suffer injury as a result — then you may be entitled to make a compensation claim.
Establishing the extent of the duty of care owed by the police is not straightforward and attempts to extend the duty have failed. For example, the courts have refused to impose a duty on the police to protect future potential victims of crime.
However, judges have been willing to impose duties of care on the police in other circumstances. So, for instance, the police have a legal duty not to carelessly cause foreseeable personal injury to any individual. this was the legal basis of the successful claims made by victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
In addition to owing a duty to not cause physical injury, there is a parallel duty to avoid causing psychiatric injury; though the law can get particularly complex when the claimant has not also suffered physical injury, or you are what lawyers refer to as a ‘secondary victim’.
The police’s duty of care in these cases will only arise where the risk of injury can be foreseen.
In judging whether the duty of care owed by the police has been breached and police negligence has occurred consideration will be given to whether a police officer has or should have specialist knowledge or training. Police officers will therefore be expected to follow good practice guidelines and manuals, as well as statutory requirements such as the PACE Code of Conduct.
If you feel that you have suffered injury due to police negligence and would like to know where you stand on making a compensation claim, then contact the experts for a free case assessment. Call our free legal helpline on 0333 888 0419 or email us at [email protected]