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Cirque du So-What

(25,812 posts)
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 09:36 AM Jun 2020

Carry liability insurance to work as a cop? I believe this could weed out bad ones.

Municipalities would pay a base premium, which would be cheaper in the long run than huge payouts to victims of police misconduct. A steeply-sliding scale would raise premiums with each incident, meaning that repeat offenders would soon be forced to look elsewhere for work.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Carry liability insurance to work as a cop? I believe this could weed out bad ones. (Original Post) Cirque du So-What Jun 2020 OP
I posted this a few days ago. We carry insurance as health care professionals. tulipsandroses Jun 2020 #1
Good points Cirque du So-What Jun 2020 #4
Good idea--certainly worth considering. n/t Laelth Jun 2020 #2
Make the Fraternal Order of Police pay. SamKnause Jun 2020 #3
Excellent idea! Silver1 Jun 2020 #5
Works for me. GoCubsGo Jun 2020 #6
Perhaps I'm obtuse, but I can't fathom why municipalities wouldn't get on board with this Cirque du So-What Jun 2020 #7
Coverage would have to be provided in the form of a Surety Bond agreement. sop Jun 2020 #8
Get this to news associations etc This is not a bad idea uponit7771 Jun 2020 #9
Absolutely! SheltieLover Jun 2020 #10
Interesting. I felt the same with gun ownership and having to carry insurance so if gun LizBeth Jun 2020 #11

tulipsandroses

(5,092 posts)
1. I posted this a few days ago. We carry insurance as health care professionals.
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 09:44 AM
Jun 2020

Any professional that has lives in their hands should. Along with that - maybe there should be some licensing necessary for police officers. Whenever I renew my license, I am asked about whether I have been sued, disciplined and so forth.

Making it easier to remove problem cops. Too many incidents and your license will not be renewed. Chauvin should not have been on the force with 18 complaints.

Cirque du So-What

(25,812 posts)
4. Good points
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 09:49 AM
Jun 2020

Police work has no fewer life-and-death aspects than health care...or Professional Engineers tasked with designing infrastructure that is safe for the public to use.

SamKnause

(13,043 posts)
3. Make the Fraternal Order of Police pay.
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 09:46 AM
Jun 2020

This would be an incentive to weed out the bad cops.

This would be an incentive for good cops to report bad cops.

The cops do not want change.

They like things just the way they are.

It will take federal, not state, legislation to change how cops behave.

GoCubsGo

(32,061 posts)
6. Works for me.
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 09:54 AM
Jun 2020

I'm required to have it to drive my car. Doctors are required to carry it. Lawyers, engineers, plumbers, electricians, and numerous other professionals carry liability insurance, or are bonded. Time for the same for cops.

Cirque du So-What

(25,812 posts)
7. Perhaps I'm obtuse, but I can't fathom why municipalities wouldn't get on board with this
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 09:57 AM
Jun 2020

Is Minneapolis happy that Chauvin was allowed to cont as a cop after 18 infractions? How's that work out for the city financially? Is there some benefit to sticking with the status quo of which I am unaware?

sop

(9,946 posts)
8. Coverage would have to be provided in the form of a Surety Bond agreement.
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 10:04 AM
Jun 2020

A surety bond is defined as "a three-party agreement that legally binds together a principal who needs the bond, an obligee who requires the bond and a surety company that sells the bond. The bond guarantees the principal will act in accordance with certain laws." Police unions should be required to purchase such a Surety Bond, to be paid for by membership dues.

Generally, liability insurance policies do not provide coverage for "criminal acts," such as police malfeasance. It is considered to be "against public policy" to cover these acts. Public policy is defined as "the principle that injury to the public good is a basis for denying the legality of a contract or other transaction." Consequently, most commercial insurance companies will not sell policies to cover "Intentional Torts or Damages."

SheltieLover

(57,073 posts)
10. Absolutely!
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 10:51 AM
Jun 2020

Every other profession has to have professional liability coverage, why the hell not them?

Must do away with that pesky immunity issue, though. And weed out from the TOP DOWN. Who is hiring these racist thugs?

LizBeth

(9,946 posts)
11. Interesting. I felt the same with gun ownership and having to carry insurance so if gun
Sat Jun 6, 2020, 01:06 PM
Jun 2020

was used against another, hurting them, then the insurance had to pick up the victims cost.

Kind of like car insurance.

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