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Miller:    Who’s considered a law enforcement officer for purposes of the Federal Tort Claims Act? Solari:    A law enforcement officer for purposes of the FTCA is anyone who can make arrests for violations of federal law, or seize evidence, or execute seizures.  If you qualify, then Uncle Sam will pay for intentional torts like assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process if those torts were committed while within scope.  Limiting that intentional tort provision to law enforcement officers makes sense, if you think about it.  The federal government asks its law enforcement officers to arrest people, conduct searches, and seize evidence.  And as we know, that often involves doing things like grabbing people, knocking them down, hitting them with an ASP… whatever.  So you’d expect law enforcement officers to be doing things that look like intentional torts.  On the other hand, you know, a person who gives out checks at the social security office shouldn’t be grabbing anybody or knocking them down, or hitting them with sticks.  Uncle Sam just doesn’t ask them to do that, so the federal government’s not going to pay when they do.

Law Enforcement and Adult Protective Services Working Together: A Team Approach to Elder Abuse CasesAge in Action; Vol. 19 (3), Summer 2004.Journal article (scholarship)This article highlights the Central Virginia Task Force on Older Battered Women (OBW Task Force), a regional coalition of aging, domestic violence (DV), law enforcement, and legal services agencies dedicated to raising awareness of the needs of women who experience domestic violence/intimate partner violence and sexual assault in later life. Established in 1998, the project focuses on developing collaborative and interdisciplinary community responses to address violence against older women. A case study is presented from Henrico County that illustrates how adult protective services (APS) and the police department conducted a joint investigation of a sexual assault of a 65 year old assisted living facility resident. The following key elements for successful collaboration were identified: the need for all members to understand and respect the expertise and distinct role of each member; the need for investigators to attempt to conduct joint interviews whenever possible; and to the need to ensure that time and resources are shared effectively. (Note: This article is available online only at:   http://www.vcu.edu/vcoa/ageaction/AGEsu04.htm.) 2003 P5623-25Heisler, C. & Stiegel Enhancing the Justice System's Response to Elder Abuse: Discussions and Recommendations of the "Improving Prosecution" Working Group of The National Policy Summit on Elder Abuse Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect; Vol. 14 (4), 31-54; 2002.**Journal article (scholarship)This article elaborates upon two of the recommendations identified through the "Improving Prosecution" working group session of the National Policy Summit on Elder Abuse (December 2001, Washington, D.C.): "improving the legal landscape by strengthening elder abuse laws" and "increasing awareness within the justice system." The following topics were considered: the role of the federal and state governments in increasing elder abuse reporting and enhancing prosecution; the need for expert witnesses, support, and technical assistance; the identification of barriers to accessing the criminal justice system; the improvement of outcomes in criminal cases; and the need for training of law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, coroners, court personnel, and advocates. The authors also provide a historical perspective on the response of the criminal justice system to elder abuse, which was initially minimal, based in part upon the underreporting of the problem. P5404-88* Johnson, K., for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS