Opinion ID: 770823
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Intercede

Text: 62 Defendants concede that police officers have a duty to intercede when their fellow officers violate the constitutional rights of a suspect or other citizen. United States v. Koon, 34 F.3d 1416, 1447 n.25 (9th Cir. 1994), rev'd on other grounds,518 U.S. 81 (1996). Importantly, however, officers can be held liable for failing to intercede only if they had an opportunity to intercede. See Bruner v. Dunaway, 684 F.2d 422, 42627 (6th Cir. 1982) (holding that officers who were not present at the time of the alleged assault could not be held liable in a section 1983 action); Gaudreault v. Municipality of Salem, 923 F.2d 203, 207 n.3 (1st Cir. 1990) (granting arresting officers' motion for summary judgment because the officers had no realistic opportunity to prevent an attack committed by another officer). In this case, officers who were not present at the time of the shootings could not intercede to prevent their fellow officers from shooting at Cunningham, Soly and Smith. Moreover, the undisputed evidence shows that the non-shooting officers who were present at the shootouts had no realistic opportunity to intercede. Thus, we find that the non-shooting and non-present officers cannot be held liable for failing to intercede to prevent the shooting of the plaintiffs in the instant case. 63