Opinion ID: 1821287
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Enforcement of Laws and Protection of the Public Safety.

Text: How a governmental entity, through its officials and employees, exercises its discretionary power to enforce compliance with the laws duly enacted by a governmental body is a matter of governance, for which there never has been a common law duty of care. This discretionary power to enforce compliance with the law, as well as the authority to protect the public safety, is most notably reflected in the discretionary power given to judges, prosecutors, arresting officers, and other law enforcement officials, as well as the discretionary authority given fire protection agencies to suppress fires. This same discretionary power to enforce compliance with the law is given to regulatory officials such as building inspectors, fire department inspectors, health department inspectors, elevator inspectors, hotel inspectors, environmental inspectors, and marine patrol officers. A discretionary function exception, within which these types of activities fall, was expressly recognized in the Federal Tort Claims Act [4] and has also been recognized as inherent in the act of governing by this Court and a majority of the other jurisdictions that have addressed this issue. See, e.g., Commercial Carrier; Morris v. County of Marin, 18 Cal.3d 901, 559 P.2d 606, 136 Cal. Rptr. 251 (1977); Cairl v. State, 323 N.W.2d 20 (Minn. 1982); Swartz v. Masloff, 62 Pa.Commw. 522, 437 A.2d 472 (1981); Maynard v. City of Madison, 101 Wis.2d 273, 304 N.W.2d 163 (1981). See also Note, The Discretionary Exception and Municipal Tort Liability: A Reappraisal, 52 Minn.L.Rev. 1047 (1968); Comment, The Discretionary Function Exception to Government Tort Liability, 61 Marq.L.Rev. 163 (1977). The necessity for this discretionary function exception was recently discussed by the United States Supreme Court in Varig Airlines, 104 S.Ct. at 2762-65. There have been a number of recent cases dealing with police power discretionary function activities for which no liability was found. See Rodriguez v. City of Cape Coral, 468 So.2d 963 (Fla. 1985) (decision to take person into protective custody); City of Daytona Beach v. Huhn, 468 So.2d 963 (Fla. 1985) (decision to make arrest); City of Daytona Beach v. Palmer, 469 So.2d 121 (Fla. 1985) (decisions of firefighters in combatting fire); Carter v. City of Stuart, 468 So.2d 955 (Fla. 1985) (enforcement of dogcatcher ordinance); Reddish v. Smith, 468 So.2d 929 (Fla. 1985) (prisoner classification); Duvall v. City of Cape Coral, 468 So.2d 961 (Fla. 1985) (enforcement of drunk driving statute); Everton v. Willard, 468 So.2d 936 (Fla. 1985) (decision to make arrest); Wong v. City of Miami, 237 So.2d 132 (Fla. 1970) (provision of police protection); Jones v. City of Longwood, 404 So.2d 1083 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), review denied, 412 So.2d 467 (Fla. 1982) (building inspection and condemnation); Berry v. State, 400 So.2d 80 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 411 So.2d 380 (Fla. 1981) (acts of judges, state attorneys, and parole and probation commission); Ellmer v. City of St. Petersburg, 378 So.2d 825 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979) (failure to provide adequate police protection); Weston v. State, 373 So.2d 701 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979) (state attorney action); and Shoner v. Concord Florida, Inc., 307 So.2d 505 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 317 So.2d 767 (Fla. 1975) (enforcement of city ordinance). The lack of a common law duty for exercising a discretionary police power function must, however, be distinguished from existing common law duties of care applicable to the same officials or employees in the operation of motor vehicles or the handling of firearms during the course of their employment to enforce compliance with the law. In these latter circumstances there always has been a common law duty of care and the waiver of sovereign immunity now allows actions against all governmental entities for violations of those duties of care. See, e.g., Crawford v. Department of Military Affairs, 412 So.2d 449 (Fla. 5th DCA), review denied, 419 So.2d 1196 (Fla. 1982) (negligent operation of vehicle).