Policing Laws and Policies

We believe that uniformity in laws and policies on police conduct will add to consistent and generally accepted adjudication of all police conduct.

Letter from CEO: 

On behalf of the Institute for American Police Reform (IAPR), it is my privilege to present our White Paper on Reform of Qualified Immunity for Police Officers. 

I am Nicholas Sensley, and I am the Founder and CEO of IAPR which was launched in June of 2020 in response to an overwhelming public outcry for reform of American policing. We are a nonprofit and nonpartisan Institute. Guided by our foundational value position that “Police are essential. So is police reform.”, we have researched and proposed changes to the existing doctrine of qualified immunity for police officers. While police qualified immunity is not the cornerstone of comprehensive reform, it is significant to help resolve issues with police accountability and to assist in restoring community trust in policing.

Qualified immunity is a broken legal doctrine needing federal legislative action; however, police qualified immunity does not need to be eliminated. It must be reformed. Over the past 4 months of diligent and focused research, analysis, and scrutiny from diversely experienced policing officials, criminal and civil law attorneys, academicians, and community leaders, we have identified a fair and pragmatic standard for reforming qualified immunity.

Although this paper discusses reform at the federal level, reform of qualified immunity for police officers should also occur at the state level and indeed, already has in several states. State level reform can include additional levers such as damage caps, indemnification policies, insurance requirements, or fee-shifting.

It is the hope of the Institute for American Police Reform that this comprehensive paper will assist in achieving fair and reasonable legislation on police qualified immunity. Our proposed standard will correct the most egregious abuses of qualified immunity and many of the less egregious but nevertheless undesirable cases. Importantly, it does so without eliminating qualified immunity entirely, recognizing there may be cases where police officers deserve the protections of qualified immunity.

Respectfully submitted,

Chief (Ret.) Nicholas A. Sensley, MBA, PhD (Candidate)

Founder & CEO