Opinion ID: 2995047
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: City of Elkhart

Text: The majority concludes, and I agree, that the City of Elkhart is entitled to summary judgment on Dye’s failure to train claim. My only difficulty here is with one statement that could be misinterpreted if read out of context. The majority states, ante at 4, that the Constitution does not require municipalities to conduct training programs. In the abstract, such a statement might be true, but we deal in practicalities rather than abstractions. As the majority properly recognizes, in a case like Dye’s, proof of a failure to train could be used to demonstrate an unlawful municipal policy that tolerated the use of excessive force by Elkhart police officers. Ante at 4. Dye’s problem here, as the majority points out, is that he had nothing to back up his allegation that the City of Elkhart’s K-9 unit training was constitutionally inadequate at the time of his confrontation with Officer Wargo. In fact, what is in the record contradicts Dye’s speculations. For example, Dye asserts that there were whole categories of activity for which the City of Elkhart failed to train Frei, including how to apprehend suspects while off a leash, but the training reports offer unrefuted evidence that such activities were part of Wargo and Frei’s training. Dye offers no evidence of any other incidents of excessive force similar to the one he allegedly experienced. There is thus no evidence that the City of Elkhart was aware that it had a problem or that its training was not adequately protecting the rights of civilians. I therefore agree with the majority that Dye’s failure to train claim cannot succeed.