Like police, doctors have a difficult and stressful job that sometimes involves making life-or-death decisions under conditions of uncertainty. But unlike police, doctors don’t expect the rest of us to pay for their mistakes. Instead, doctors carry professional liability insurance, which pays to defend them against malpractice claims and protects them from financial ruin by paying out damage awards to successful plaintiffs.
…Unfortunately, police departments have a hard time getting rid of their own bad apples: For example, the officers who tried to frame Wiggins are still employed by the NYPD; no charges have been filed against them.
…This is the policy change we need to better align police incentives with public safety and respect for constitutional rights. Police officers are engaged in a profession that, while indispensably crucial, also poses serious risk, and that risk is causing taxpayers to foot an enormous bill when the officers fail to meet the standard of care.
…The relationship between police and many of the communities they serve is in a state of crisis. Much of that is due to a perception that police are insufficiently respectful of people’s rights and too quick to use force.
Private liability insurance provides an extremely powerful tool for distinguishing between the best and the worst cops.
hmmm
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