## Facts

- Deborah Kircher was abducted from a Jamestown, New York, parking lot by an assailant who forced her into her car and drove away.
- Two bystanders witnessed the abduction, heard Kircher screaming, briefly pursued the car, and then lost it.
- The bystanders encountered Jamestown Police Officer Bruce Carlson, reported the apparent abduction, and provided the assailant’s description, the car description, and the license plate number.
- Carlson told the bystanders he would “call it in,” but he did not report the incident or take further action.
- Relying on Carlson’s assurance, the bystanders stopped their pursuit, returned to the store to obtain Kircher’s identifying information, and checked her home; they did not make further police contact.
- The assailant took Kircher to another location, repeatedly raped and assaulted her, inflicted severe injuries, and confined her in the trunk of her car for many hours before she was rescued.
- Kircher sued Carlson and the City of Jamestown for negligence based on the failure to provide aid and to act on the report.

## Issues

1. Whether a municipality and police officer owe an actionable duty to an abducted victim, beyond the duty owed to the public, based on a “special relationship.”
2. Whether contact and reliance by third-party witnesses who report a crime can satisfy the “direct contact” and “justifiable reliance” elements required to impose municipal liability for failure to provide police protection.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the City and the officer.
- The court held no special relationship existed between Kircher and the municipality or officer.
- Because Kircher lacked direct contact with the officer and did not rely on any police undertaking, defendants owed no special duty to her and were not liable for nonfeasance in providing police protection.

## Legal Principles

- A municipality generally is not liable in negligence for failure to provide police protection to a particular individual absent a special relationship creating a special duty.
- A special relationship requires: (1) an affirmative undertaking by promise or action to act for the injured party, (2) knowledge that inaction could lead to harm, (3) direct contact between municipal agents and the injured party, and (4) justifiable reliance by the injured party on the undertaking.
- Direct contact and justifiable reliance must be attributable to the injured plaintiff; third-party witness contact with police, and witness reliance on police assurances, does not establish a special relationship with the victim.
- Limits on liability reflect that decisions about police protection levels and resource deployment are governmental in nature and should not create open-ended tort exposure.

## Conclusion

The court held that municipal liability for failure to act on a reported abduction required a special relationship with the victim, and that the victim’s absence of direct police contact and reliance barred recovery even where witnesses reported the crime and relied on an officer’s assurance that he would act.


Kircher v. City of Jamestown, 74 N.Y.2d 251 (N.Y. 1989)