Police and failure to enter home of suicidal person
<p>An individual with a known mental health/substance abuse history was held in protective custody on a given night due to heavy drinking and unsafe behavior.  That individual was released from custody in the morning.  That afternoon police were called due to a videochat in which the individual had a noose hanging in the background.  The police department made no attempt to enter the house although all doors were open and did not attempt to call the concerned caller (parent) for additional information?  Is there any potential liability for the municipality or police department which told the parent that they would send police and an ambulance -- and nothing was done to intervene. </p>

<p>In the United States, there is no potential liability for the municipality or the police department. There is no legally enforceable duty of police to act to prevent either violations of the law, or apprehend criminals, or to prevent suicide of people who are not in police custody.</p>

<p>Other countries have different laws on this subject.</p>

liability police suicide