Good Neighbor Policy

First, read: Phoenix officer won't let neighbor rescue cat, PD helps. In brief, a cat gets stuck up in a neighbor's tree, and the neighbor, a police officer, wouldn't let the guy get his cat out of the tree, citing "insurance" as his reasoning. After 9! days, several other officers went and got the cat down. At one point, the officer flashed his gun and badge at the would-be rescuers.

Merry Christmas.

On to the legal analysis. The claim of "insurance" is simply so much junk. Liability to property visitors follows a general sliding scale: the more likely one is to be present, and the owner/occupier aware of the presence of the person, the greater the duty of care owed. Some states still break it down into categories. At the lowest end of the scale is the unknown trespasser, to whom no duty is owed at all. The second level is the known trespasser, to whom a duty is owed to warn of unnatural or man-made hazards that pose a serious risk of injury and that are known to the owner/occupier. The third level is the licensee, a person present with the owner/occupier's consent (the general category for social guests), which carries with it the duty to warn of any known dangerous condition. The fourth category is the invitee, someone who is there for the owner/occupier's benefit - the duty there is to warn of any known dangers and to make reasonable inspection.

In this case, the owner/occupier, the officer, would at best have had a duty to warn of any known dangers, if he would have consented to let the pet owner on to the property. The officer could also have simply said "no, you don't have my consent to come on to my property, but I won't stop you either," which would have left the pet owner a known trespasser, with only a duty to warn of known artificial dangers imposed on the officer.

In the worst case scenario, say the pet owner falls out of the tree to his death, would the owner/occupier have any liability? Probably not, if he had warned of any risks of serious harm on his property. If one fulfills one's duty, there is no tort, and thus no liability.

Also, the officer was a jerk, who likely simply did not like the neighbor or cats or both. It says a lot about the police (to serve and protect?) when it takes 6 other cops to browbeat the owner/occupier to let them get a cat out of a tree.