Failure to Intervene
Officers are duty bound to protect citizens from constitutional violations by fellow officers.
Is This You?
Does This Sound Like You?
- Other officers stood by while one officer hurt you
- An officer saw a violation happen and did nothing to stop it
- Officers did not get you medical help when you needed it
What Is Failure to Intervene?
An Officer Who Watches Can Be Liable Too
Officers are duty bound to protect citizens from constitutional violations by fellow officers. The duty does not fall only on the officer who uses the force — it reaches the officer standing beside them.
In the event that an officer does not intervene, they may be liable for their failure to intervene. That liability sits alongside any claim against the officer who committed the violation, and both can be pursued in the same case.
Failure to intervene is one of the civil rights claims Joel Silberman brings against law enforcement, most often together with an excessive force claim.
The Duty in Practice
When an Officer Must Step In
The duty follows a simple sequence:
The Officer Is There
An officer is present, or witnesses another officer violating an individual’s constitutional rights.
They Must Intervene
At that point the duty is to intervene and help that person — not to wait, and not to defer to the officer committing the violation.
Or They May Be Liable
In the event that they do not do so, they may be liable for their failure to intervene.
This is why more than one officer is often named in a civil rights case — the officer who acted, and the officers who stood by.
What It Looks Like
An Example of Failure to Intervene
An example of failure to intervene is where a police officer is beating an individual with a baton for no lawful or justifiable reason and his partner stands nearby watching and fails to do anything to stop the attack.
The partner never raised the baton. Under the duty to intervene, that is not the end of the question — what matters is that they were there, the violation was in front of them, and they did nothing to stop it.
A Case the Whole Country Watched
The Officers Who Stood By
After Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, the three other officers at the scene faced a federal trial. Two were charged with failing to intervene as Chauvin used excessive force, and all three with failing to provide medical aid - a duty officers have under the law. All three were convicted in February 2022.
The same duty applies to every officer in New Jersey: an officer who watches a fellow officer violate someone’s rights, and does nothing, can be held responsible.
Speak With Joel Silberman
If Your Civil Rights Were Violated
If you believe that you or a loved one’s civil rights have been violated, please call The Law Offices of Joel Silberman, LLC at 201-420-1913 or email us at joel@joelsilbermanlaw.com for a free consultation.