The Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency (IRMA) Report

Prepared by: Frank J. Marino
Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency, Intern
Illinois State University

BACKGROUND
Since 1986, IRMA has sponsored a risk management grant program to encourage its members to upgrade their police department standards by achieving the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA®) police accreditation. IRMA established the grant program and continues to strongly support accreditation on the premise that local governments are constantly and increasingly being held liable for damages resulting from public employees wrongfully carrying out or acting without a policy. This makes accreditation extremely desirable. An excellent defense to lawsuits charging police with such acts as false arrest, use of excessive force, or violation of civil rights is that the officer was acting properly in accordance with established policies, and that those policies were approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. Conversely, lack of acceptable department policies and/or training certainly cast doubt on any defense a police agency might attempt and may actually be the basis for the plaintiff's case.

In our continuing effort to evaluate and verify the efficacy of our risk management services to the members, IRMA recently completed a study to determine if we could ascertain if there is in fact a significant and quantitative difference in the frequency and severity outcomes of police professional liability claims occurring in accredited versus non accredited IRMA member Police Departments. This study was particularly important in view of the significant commitment of time and money required to attain accreditation. It was also undertaken to determine if there was sufficient empirical evidence to assist us with a decision to implement similar accreditation grant programs for IRMA fire service and public works functions.

METHODOLOGY
IRMA police departments were divided into 2 groups; those who had attained the CALEA^© accreditation, and those who have not (See attachments I & II). Data collected for all Departments from IRMA claims and financial services, IRMA underwriting and loss control records was as follows: number of sworn officers, number of coverage 25 (police professional, i.e., use of excessive force, discrimination, false arrest, violation of civil rights) claims from 1993 to 1997, and the severity (both reserved and paid-out) of those claims (See attachment I). In addition, for departments with the CALEA^© accreditation, we also collected the date of initial accreditation, and the number of reaccreditations completed (See attachment II). Note: The number of reaccreditations does not appear to be a significant factor when comparing frequency and severity results of accredited entities to each other. Frequency and Claims data were then plugged into formulas to find the number of claims per 100 officers and the severity of claims per 100 officers (See attachment III). The data was then compared for the two groups. The following table depicts the results:

CONCLUSION
When the data from non-accredited departments is compared with accredited departments, it evidences a difference of 1.67 claims per 100 officers or over 16% reduction in frequency and $34,472.52 per 100 officers or 35% reduction in severity in favor of the accredited departments. The reduction in total severity is quite dramatic over the five- (5) year period.

IRMA's conclusion is that this study provides us with quantitative evidence that Police Accreditation does in fact significantly impact a law enforcement agencies ability to prevent and reduce loss in the area of police professional liability. We will continue to support this grant program and encourage our members to attain accreditation. It also provides us with the additional assurances that we should proceed with the development and implementation of similar grant programs for fire service and public works functions.
In sum, we believe that Accreditation affords the opportunity to more effectively manage an organization (regardless of the business). Effective management results in effective risk management!

Attachment 1

Police Accreditation Analysis
Non - Accredited Police Departments

1993 - 1997  

Attachment 2
Police Accreditation Analysis
Accredited Police Departments
1993 - 1997

Number of Claims per 100 Officers 8.61
Severity of Claims per 100 Officers $63,298.69

Attachment 3
FORMULAS
Frequency of Claims per 100 Officers
Frequency of Claims
Number of Sworn Officers X 100

Severity of Claims per 100 Officers
Number of Sworn Officers X 100