Is a police officer liable in damages for failing to come to the aid of an injured person?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Toth v. City of Anaheim, No. G041307 (Cal. App. 5/11/2010), No. G041307. (Cal. App. 2010):

The court continued, limiting that general principle, however, by stating that "past cases establish that police officers . . ., like other persons, generally may not be held liable in damages for failing to take affirmative steps to come to the aid of, or prevent an injury to, another person. `As a rule, one has no duty to come to the aid of another. A person who has not created a peril is not liable in tort merely for failure to take affirmative action to assist or protect another unless there is some relationship between them which gives rise to a duty to act.' [Citation.] More specifically, `law enforcement officers, like other members of the public, generally do not have a legal duty to come to the aid of [another] person . . . .' [Citation.]" (Zelig v. County of Los Angeles, supra, 27 Cal.4th at pp. 1128-1129.)

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