Duty to Intervene is the course built on the post-George Floyd reality that every officer is expected to know when, why, and how to stop a fellow officer from violating a person’s constitutional rights. Taught for working officers, the course combines the legal framework (Section 1983 civil liability, Section 242 criminal liability, and the Monell factors driving municipal liability) with the practical skills of peer intervention.
The course is organized around four major themes. The legal framework, covering Section 1983 elements and qualified immunity, Section 242 willfulness and federal prosecution, and the Monell factors of unconstitutional policy, customs and practice, failure to train, failure to discipline, direct involvement, and deliberate indifference. The duty itself, covering the three levels of intervention (verbal, physical, reporting), the substantive law in two lessons, and the realistic-opportunity standard. The practical skill of peer intervention, including verbal scripts, physical interventions, and the documentation that closes the loop. And the barriers that keep officers from acting, including social loyalty, the bystander effect, and agency culture, with the George Floyd incident as the anchor case study.
After completing this course, you will be able to recognize the moments that demand intervention, articulate the legal duty, choose the right level of intervention, execute with professionalism, and document what you did. You will leave knowing that the duty protects everyone in the equation, including the officer who learns to step in before a career-ending mistake compounds.
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