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Legal and Liability Management For Drug
and Narcotic Investigations
Length of Seminar:
2 Days
Instructor: Jack
Ryan
Course Overview:
Critical Tasks in Narcotics Operations:
This session will focus on the critical tasks of
a narcotics operation and identify the specific tasks that
will expose the investigators and the agency to liability.
Search Warrants:
This session focuses on the state of the law related
to search warrants as well as the exceptions to the warrant
requirement. It should be recognized that when officers
breach the rules of criminal procedure, they risk the possibility
of a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Participants will
identify the constitutional mandates related to search warrants
and the warrant exceptions.
The Concept of Particularity
and Specificity: The session will begin with a review
of the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision
in Groh v. Ramirez and its impact on the drafting of defensible
search warrants.
Pre-Raid Planning:
The failure to develop a sound pre-raid plan quickly becomes
an issue when officers conducting the raid are faced with
resistance and forced to react. In cases where reaction
is required plaintiff’s expert will attempt to testify
as to how the failure of a pre-raid plan created the need
for a police reaction. This session will focus on issues
related to pre-raid planning and the “best police
practices” related to these plans.
Knock and Announce:
Where are we? The trilogy of cases from the United States
Supreme Court on the concept of “knock and announce”
provides the framework for when officers may dispense the
requirement of knocking as well as how quickly they can
move forward after knocking and announcing. This session
will analyze the current rules and provide participants
with a formula for making defensible decisions with respect
to knocking and announcing.
Special Legal Issues
in Narcotics Investigations: The use of informants
can lead to dramatic liability. This session will begin
by looking at cases involving the protection of informants.
Examples such as Butera v. District of Columbia where the
initial jury award (since vacated) against the District
was 98 million dollars will be used to discuss investigator
and agency obligations to informants. The session will also
discuss additional legal issues such as liability related
to the seizure of property as well as funds held by narcotics
units.
Audits and Inspections:
Agencies cannot afford to wait until enduring the worst
case scenario to determine if their operations are consistent
with the best police practices. This session will focus
on the concept of audits and inspections as a means to detect
deficiencies before the crisis. Participants will review
audits and inspections material specifically related to
the narcotics function that may be implemented to identify
areas of improvement that will help reduce liability.
Policy Development
for Narcotics Units: Policy Development: Developing
the most defensible policy and training for narcotics units.
This session will focus on sound policy development that
will make officers and agencies a more difficult target
for plaintiff’s attorney.
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