Reference no: EM133119385

There could be many ramifications for criminal allegations or unethical behaviors by a law enforcement officer. The main legal consequence for a city, county, or state when dealing with these issues is being sued. It has become increasingly more popular for civilians to sue a police department or anyone who has "deep pockets". They will sue even if their case is considered weak. In most situations where an individual is suing a department, county, city or state, they are willing to settle with the plaintiff. The only reason they will not settle is if they feel they have a very strong case against the plaintiff's allegations, and they know they could get more than what they are asking for. The reason for this is because total cost of the legal process outweighs the cost to settle for a smaller amount. Even if the officer acted ethically and within the scope of their duty, they would still settle the lawsuit.

Another scenario if the departments, cities, and counties are paying too much money due to lawsuits, is they could see less funding in the following years budget. This essentially puts the pressure on the departments, cities, or counties to ensure officers are complying to proper policies, procedures, and protocols.