Police Action Triggers Immunity Under Tort Immunity Act
In Payne
v. City of Chicago, 2014 ILL App (1st) 123010 (July 16, 2014),
relatives of the plaintiff called police for assistance after he took crack
cocaine and began hallucinating, destroying property, and causing injuries to
himself. Chicago Police arrived at the scene, and were forced to TASER
the plaintiff to calm him. However, the plaintiff wound up falling out of
the second story window, causing him to suffer severe injuries and become
paralyzed. It was unclear whether the plaintiff jumped or fell out of the
window.
Plaintiff sued the city for battery, alleging that the
willful and wanton conduct exception to the Tort Immunity Act applied.
The city denied any wrongdoing based on Sections 4-102 and 2-202 of the Tort
Immunity Act. Section 4-102 provides the city blanket immunity for
failing to provide adequate police protection. However, section 2-202
provides a willful and wanton exception to immunity during the enforcement of
law.
After review of the Tort Immunity Act, the trial court ruled
in favor of the city, finding that the Act provided immunity. On appeal,
the Appellate Court affirmed. The Appellate Court found that the willful
and wanton exception to the Act did not apply as the police were not there to
enforce any law. Rather, they were there to provide a police service
after being called by plaintiff’s family to provide assistance. The Court
found that the blanket immunity provided in Section 4-102 applied in this
scenario because the officers were providing a police service.
Post Authored by Erin Baker, Ancel Glink
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