Section 1983 complaints that assert claims against multiple police officers can be especially challenging for counsel and the courts. These actions most commonly allege that police arrests, uses of force, and searches violated the Fourth Amendment. The defendant may have been the arresting officer, an officer who employed force, an officer serving as “back up,” a supervisory officer, or officer who was merely “on the scene.”

Multiple police officer defendant cases may present difficult issues (1) concerning the identification of the officers; (2) determining which officer(s) did what; and (3) evaluating whether an officer’s actions or inactions justify the imposition of §1983 liability. We assume, initially, that the plaintiff and her attorney are able to identify the officers involved in the incident. This is no small assumption and we will return to this issue later in the column.