Criminal Defense Insurance

[MilwaukeeCU]

We have had a rise in questionable prosecutions of police officers in my jurisdiction. It seems that law enforcement is becoming a risky business to be in.

Consequently, I was wondering if there exists a sort of criminal defense insurance offered to officers -- possibly through unions, and also what your opinion of the coverage and service provided was...

Thanks for any assistance!

MKECU

[Medici]

I have the FOP Legal Defense Plan along with Teamsters Union to back me up in a jam or critical incident.

[PhilipCal]

Criminal Defense Insurance

The great majority of court actions Officers are involved in personally, are civil suits brought against the Officer/agency. The State Of Alabama indemnifies each employee, including Peace Officers for amounts up to three million dollars. The state will also provide representation for the Officer/employee. A State Officer charged with a criminal offense may find himself on totally different ground, and this is where PBA/FOP plans might be of great help. The key in determining the value of any plan is how much coverage it offers, at what cost, what type situations it covers, was it duty related? And the list goes on.

[AvalancheZ71]

That law in AL excludes Constables in AL for some reason.

[CG1811]

Commerical Policies / Pre-Paid Plans

In my former life, I was an expensive corporate attorney.

I would advise against putting money into either pre-paid legal services and/or plans that you are not certain that you will receive exceptional representation. Frankly, if you are in real trouble you will want real talent to represent you. For example in Chicago, Illinois there are a handful of either civil litigation practicioners or defense counsel that are exceptional. I would likely retain one of these practicioners and their services will not be cheap. Frankly, you will - regretably get what you pay for.

More importantly pull the policy and have a dirty lawyer glance at it to ensure that the carrier will not except acts outside of the scope of your duty, degrees of negligence, and acts of god. The last commerical policy I reviewed would not cover me if I acted outside of the scope of my duty and employment. In otherwords - some policies will not cover you if you have been deemed to act outside of the scope of your employer - if there is no coverage with the department there is often no coverage with the carrier. Know what you are buying.

On the other hand there are significant liability planning opportunities that you should take advantage of to minimize your ability to satisfy a judgment creditor.

[PhilipCal]

Defense Insurance

Interesting post by Avalanche. I can only take a halfway educated guess concerning Constables in Alabama not being covered/imdemnified. They are not state officers, therefore the State of Alabama is not legally responsible for defending or indemnifying them. It's true they act under "color of law", but they are essentially self employed, as in elected. The closest entity an Alabama Constable can be said to represent is the county where he is elected, but the election is in a "beat" of that county. It' would be an interesting legal question if a Constable were sued. In theory, Constables can serve court papers, but few if any courts utilize that service, prefering to have the Sheriff serve court process and papers. Interesting question Avalanche.