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Home > School of Law > Student > Law Review > Vol. 47 > Iss. 2 (2025)

 

Western New England Law Review

Abstract

Can civil tort law make law enforcement services safer and more effective? The purpose of tort law is to protect the public by imposing an obligation to act responsibly and avoid causing harm to others. But tort law is generally inapplicable to the profession of policing because of the public duty doctrine, the theory that police owe a duty only to the public at large, not to any individual. That doctrine and similar rules render police immune from civil liability even in cases of egregious failure to protect the public. Public safety—and confidence in law enforcement—suffer as a result.

As shown by this Article, the public duty doctrine is an antiquated theory that has never been well supported by reason. Further, it is entirely inconsistent with the modern trend of demanding greater accountability from law enforcement. It should be abolished, along with the related immunities that prevent tort liability from attaching to incompetently performed police services. Doing so will ultimately lead to law enforcement services that better achieve the essential function of protecting the public. Allowing tort law to incentivize competence and safety in policing, as it does in most other contexts, will result in safer communities that have a more trusting relationship with police.

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