I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. Fault, though, doesn't always matter under Ohio law. And innocence doesn't always protect law-abiding citizens. Under state law, safety officers are not responsible for accident damages or injuries when they are responding to dangerous, urgent or emergency calls.
Immunity is intended to protect cities from hefty civil settlements.
Columbus police supervisors say it also is necessary to allow officers to do their jobs without fear of lawsuits. The division's legal bureau, though, has invoked immunity for officers who wrecked cruisers while pursuing traffic violators or performing other routine patrol duties. Ninety percent of the denials contain only an officer's word that such a situation existed. In at least two dozen cases, victims were told that officers were responding to emergency, urgent or dangerous situations when they were not. Immunity decisions were made by officers who aren't lawyers, and more than half weren't reviewed by the assistant city attorney overseeing the legal bureau.