Gordon v. Bridgeport Housing Authority, 208 Conn. 161 (1988)

Citation: Gordon v. Bridgeport Housing Authority, 208 Conn. 161 (1988)
Parent Document: Gordon v. Bridgeport Housing Authority, 208 Conn. 161 (1988)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 1988-07-05
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7893244/gordon-v-bridgeport-housing-authority/ ↗

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The plaintiff is left only with a claim that an alleged shortage of police patrols in the Marina Apartments housing project was a breach of a duty imposed by law and not simply a discretionary decision by the police department concerning deployment of its officers. The plaintiff’s claims run counter to the great weight of authority that the operation of a police department is a discretionary governmental function. Morris v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 781 F.2d 218, 220 (D.C. Cir. 1986); Calogrides v. Mobile, 475 So. 2d 560, 561 (Ala. 1985); Leibman v. Burbank, 490 So. 2d 218, 219 (Fla. 1986). Motyka v. Amsterdam, 15 N.Y.2d 134, 138, 204 N.E.2d 635, 256 N.Y.S.2d 595 (1965); Rion v. Ashland, 110 App. Div. 2d 944, 488 *180N.Y.S.2d 99 (1984). “[I]t is firmly established that the operation of a police department is a governmental function, and that acts or omissions in connection therewith ordinarily do not give rise to liability on the part of the municipality. . . . [T]he failure to provide, or the inadequacy of, police protection usually does not give rise to a cause of action in tort against a city.” 18 E. McQuillin, Municipal Corporations (3d Ed.) § 53.51. The deployment of officers is particularly a governmental function. “Considerable latitude must be allowed to [a police chief] in the deployment of his officers, or in enforcing discipline. Indeed, because a police chiefs authority to assign his officers to particular duties is deemed a matter that concerns the public safety, he may not be deprived of his power to ‘exercise his own discretion and judgment as to the number, qualifications and identity of officers needed for particular situations at any given time’ . . . .” 16A E. McQuillin, supra, § 45.08. We conclude that the general deployment of police officers is a discretionary governmental action as a matter of law.

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