While public employees are immune from civil liability for damages caused in the use of emergency vehicles while responding to emergencies under V.C. § 17004, public entities are likely to be held civilly liable pursuant to V.C. § 17001

Gang-tackling a person in order to effect his arrest, when the person is neither resisting arrest nor attempting to escape, may constitute an excessive use of force.

Police officers using excessive force in making an arrest may be held civilly (if not criminally) liable. Failing to intercede in another officer’s use of excessive force also may also generate civil (and criminal) liability.

DUI checkpoints, so long as properly conducted, are constitutional. Requiring the driver of a car stopped at a DUI checkpoint to display his driver’s license is also constitutional. Using a minimal amount of physical force to arrest a driver with…

The use of social media by a public employee to denigrate minority religious groups may potentially subject the employee to internal discipline by his employer.