Officer-in-Charge Liability

Taking on the job responsibilities of Officer-in-Charge (OIC) on a shift means stepping into a supervisory position and all the additional legal, ethical, and operational responsibilities that come with that responsibility.  To accept it is to accept an invitation to enter the world of risk management.  

Far too many officers stepping into the OIC role are learning about these challenges through the process of trial and error—at great expense to themselves, their agencies, the people they lead, and the public that they serve.  It is vital to agency operations that officers who serve as an OIC are continuously considering the ramifications of their leadership decisions in the context of liability and risk management.

In this webinar, case law and recent real-world case studies will be utilized to illustrate the most common and costly liability issues confronting an OIC in law enforcement as well as effective strategies for minimizing that liability.  This training is designed to prepare law enforcement leaders in the OIC role to take preventative steps to limit liability, maintain organizational standards, and protect the public trust.

Topics covered include:

• Clearly defining the responsibilities of an OIC
• The 3 most important questions in OIC liability:
  • What should you know?
  • When should you know it?
  • What should you do?
• Combating the diffusion of responsibility and the bystander effect as the OIC
• Informal coaching, formal counseling, and referring officer performance issues “up the chain”
• Liabilities incurred by the failure to supervise and/or failure to act
• Holding yourself to the same high standard of conduct—regardless of whether or not you are serving as OIC on the shift