Areas of Concern for LEOs
FEDS just celebrated its 10-year anniversary defending federal employees, and we take this opportunity to share our insights.
The incidence of claims is higher than it was a decade ago – the silver lining here is that more LEOs have liability insurance in place than they did a decade ago. From a liability perspective, our impatient, social media driven, and lawsuit friendly society has increased the vulnerability for many rank and file Feds across the Federal Government – particularly federal LEOs.
As we’ve evolved into a need-for-speed society, we expect and are expected to have answers immediately. This need for immediate response, action or resolve has resulted in harmful responses and unnecessary allegations and investigations of federal law enforcement agency programs and employees. News, in all forms, is big business. And when the media or politicians get a hold of what might turn into a big or multi-night story, more often than not, it will get reported in a way to increase ratings, subscribers or viewership. In some instances, irresponsible reporting or politicking is at the forefront of problems for today’s Feds. Once a claim is made, whether the allegation is true or false, the consequences can be far reaching. While no one argues against the necessity of public scrutiny and the media, the demand in the last decade for an immediate response or immediate investigation by agency leaders or elected officials often results in real harm to individual employees and their families.
Outside stakeholders are the other major area of concern for federal LEOs. Problems caused by special interest groups and citizens have simply exploded over the last decade causing real damage to the careers and personal lives of federal LEOs. The harm can run the gamut from administrative investigations to personal capacity lawsuits in which you could be held liable. The type of work you do and the way in which it is perceived by the public or individual subjects often results in passionate and/or angry reactions.
If you work for an agency that has seen increased vulnerability, for any reason, tell your coworkers to look into the protections provided by professional liability insurance. If you are aware of a new vulnerability or liability exposure that we may not be, let us know so we can determine what changes, if necessary, we need to make. If you are working with new federal LEOs, ensure they truly understand that it is often the most productive and capable agents that end up needing legal defense throughout the course of their career. We need you to be confident in your decisions, actions or inactions as LEOs– and you need to be confident that we will protect you for acts, errors or omissions in the performance of your federal law enforcement job duties. Contact us anytime at 866.955.FEDS or feds@fedsprotection.com.
FEDS provides professional liability insurance for the entire federal law enforcement community. For information on your specific exposures, how professional liability insurance protects, or how the FEDS program differs from other insurance programs, visit us on the web at fedsprotection.com and choose the position or agency that best describes your job and professional responsibilities.