Inouye

In this opinion we hold that Los Angeles County’s (County) policy of deeming its off-duty safety police officers to not be engaged in the performance of their duties is ineffective to insulate the County from respondeat superior liability for the alleged wrongful conduct of an off-duty safety police officer in the course of making an arrest. We therefore reverse a summary judgment which was based on a finding to the contrary.

Background

David Parker is a longtime County safety police officer who is assigned to the department of health. While performing his duties, Parker carries a gun issued to him by the County.

On July 1, 1990, Parker worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift. When his shift ended, Parker placed his County-issued gun in a weapons locker in accordance with County policy. He also removed a personally owned gun from the weapons locker and placed it in a holster on his belt. Parker then left work in his pickup truck.

About 12:45 a.m. Parker was proceeding on Pacific Coast Highway near Topanga Canyon Boulevard when a car driven by Fred Inouye attempted to ram Parker’s truck from behind and run it off the road. Inouye pulled in front of Parker, stopped…