Opinion ID: 2736424
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Police Department’s Status

Text: In the caption of the amended complaint, Mr. Benton includes the town’s police department as a separate defendant. Third Am. Compl. at 1. But Mr. Benton twice omitted the police department when listing the defendants. Id. at 2, 6. The district court did not treat the police department as a separate party. Mr. Benton challenges this omission, arguing that the court should have considered the police department as a party. Even if the court erred, the error would not have been prejudicial because the police department “is not a separate suable entity.” Martinez v. Winner, 771 F.2d 424, 444 (10th Cir. 1985), modified on other grounds, 778 F.2d 553 (10th Cir. 1985), vacated on other grounds, Tyus v. Martinez, 475 U.S. 1138 (1986). Thus, even if the district court should have considered the police department a defendant, the error would not have mattered. As a defendant, the police department would have been entitled to dismissal for failure to state a valid claim. 3