Page 125 - North Carolina 2020 Legal Guide
P. 125
Task: Duty to Protect Citizens
DeShaney v. Winnebago County, 489 U.S. 189 (1989).
Law enforcement officers, like all government actors, generally have
no duty under the constitution to protect citizens from harm caused
by third party, non-government actors.
• Law enforcement officers have an obligation to protect citizens who
they have taken into custody because in depriving the person of
liberty, officers have also deprived the individual of the ability to care
for him or herself.
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