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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2024-087 Resolution providing for indemnification against personal liability for volunteers participating in the Yakima Police Department volunteer program(s) RESOLUTION NO. R-2024-087 A RESOLUTION providing for indemnification against personal liability for volunteers participating in the Yakima Police Department volunteer program(s). WHEREAS, the Yakima City Council adopted Resolution No. D5820 on the 18th day of September, 1990, for the purpose of providing for indemnification against personal liability for City personnel and for a provision of broader coverage of City personnel; and WHEREAS, Resolution No. D5820 stated within its recitals that the City Council deemed it in the best interests of the City to indemnify, amongst others, "police volunteers," and furthermore, noted previous indemnification resolutions had not provided such indemnification for police volunteers; and WHEREAS, in accordance with the aforementioned recitals, Resolution No. D5820, Section 2, Section A, specifically provided for indemnification of "On-Guard Crime Prevention volunteers;" and WHEREAS, "On-Guard Crime Prevention volunteers," were part of a specific program in the Yakima Police Department that appears to have operated from the mid-1970s into the 1990s; and WHEREAS, the Yakima Police Department now operates a broader volunteer program called "Volunteers in Police Service," and the volunteers in the program perform valuable service to the City of Yakima; and WHEREAS, in the interests of recruiting and retaining police volunteers the City Council deems it in the best interests of the City to explicitly indemnify police volunteers; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF YAKIMA: Section 1. The following hereby enacted: Section A. The City shall defend and indemnify all persons participating as approved volunteers (hereafter referred to as "police volunteers") in a volunteer program which has been approved by the Chief of Police and is administered by the Chief of Police and/or by his/her designee(s), against all actions, claims or other proceedings threatened or instituted against them and which arise from the performance, purported performance, or failure of performance of their duties for the City; and the City shall hold them harmless from all expenses and liability connected with the defense or settlement of such claims and from liability for any monetary fine or judgment entered in an such action or proceeding. Section B. The defense, indemnification, and hold harmless provisions of this resolution shall be afforded only to persons who are police volunteers at the time of occurrence of the incident on which the action, claim or proceeding is based. Further, the defense, indemnification or hold harmless provisions of this resolution shall be afforded only to those persons who exercised good faith in their performance, purported performance, or failure of performance of their duties for the City on which the action, claim or proceeding is based, and who were not acting outside the scope of their authority 1 as police volunteers; and no civil or criminal fine shall be paid for any person who knew, or should have known with the exercise of reasonable care, that the conduct or failure to act, on which the fine is based, was unlawful. The determination of whether a police volunteer was acting in good faith within the scope of his/her duties, and without knowledge or discoverable knowledge of the unlawfulness of the person's conduct, shall be made by the City Manager. Section C. The monetary amount of indemnification shall be the reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred and connected with the defense, settlement, and monetary fine or judgment, including costs, disbursements, and attorney's fees, arising from the action, claim, or other proceeding, and shall include the amount of both civil and criminal fines actually imposed unless it is found by the City Manager, that the person liable therefore knew, or should have known with the exercise of reasonable care, that the conduct or failure to act on which the fine is based, was unlawful. Section D. In order to be eligible for the defense, indemnification, or hold harmless provisions of this resolution, the person seeking that protection must notify the City Manager immediately on learning that a claim is threatened or made, or that an action or other proceeding is filed or commenced, and provide the City Manager with a copy of all claims, pleadings, reports or other documents in that person's possession related to the claim, action or proceeding; and further must agree that the defense shall be conducted by investigators and legal counsel designated by the City, unless the City Council approves the hiring of other investigators or defense counsel for any particular claim, action or proceeding. Section E. The agreed settlement of any claim, action or other proceeding against a police volunteer falling within the provisions of this resolution shall be subject to the approval of the City Council. Section F. The defense, indemnification, or other hold harmless provisions of this resolution shall not be afforded to any police volunteer in any claim or cross-claim, action, or proceeding of any nature threatened, filed, or instituted by the City against that police volunteer. Section G. The defense, indemnification, and hold harmless provisions of this resolution shall apply to any deductible or self-insurance retention provided for or required by any insurance coverage held by the City at the time of the adoption of this resolution or acquired thereafter, regardless of the amount of the deductible provision or self- insurance retention requirement; and, further, the inability or failure of the City to apply for or acquire any insurance shall not limit the protection afforded by this resolution to police volunteers, in which event the defense, indemnification, and hold harmless provisions of this resolution shall apply to the full monetary amount of the expenses defined in Section C of this resolution. Section H. This resolution does not repeal and/or modify in any way Resolution No. D5820, adopted by the City Council on the 18th day of September, 1990, nor shall it be construed or interpreted to repeal and/or modify in any way Resolution No. D5820. 2 ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL this 7th da of May, 2024. 2 A 49 y P ��q x‘Ilil P tricia Byers, M or ATTEST: 1! —** 1� ,* SEAL o osalinda Ibarra, City Clerk • 1 .. a, ____,) BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDA STATEMENT Item No. 10. For Meeting of: May 7, 2024 ITEM TITLE: Resolution providing for indemnification against personal liability for volunteers participating in the Yakima Police Department volunteer program(s) SUBMITTED BY: Jeffrey Allen Schaap, Senior Assistant City Attorney SUMMARY EXPLANATION: The Yakima City Council adopted Resolution No. D5820 on the 18th day of September, 1990, for the purpose of providing for indemnification against personal liability for City personnel and for a provision of broader coverage of City personnel. Resolution No. D5820 stated within its recitals that the City Council deemed it in the best interests of the City to indemnify, amongst others, "police volunteers," and furthermore, noted previous indemnification resolutions had not provided such indemnification for police volunteers. In accordance with the aforementioned recitals, Resolution No. D5820, Section 2, Section A, specifically provided for indemnification of "On-Guard Crime Prevention volunteers." However, while the resolution generally referred to police volunteers in the recital clauses, it specifically provided for indemnification for members of a specific program, "On-Guard Crime Prevention volunteers," which is now inactive. This resolution provides for indemnification of police volunteers rather than just"On-Guard Crime Prevention volunteers." ITEM BUDGETED: NA STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Public Safety APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL BY THE CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION: Adopt resolution. ATTACHMENTS: Description Upload Date Type D Res-Indemnification YPD Volunteer Program:,,