Liability, Risk Management, and Evidence Handling
What the candidate must know
Liability exposure comes from negligence (duty, breach, causation, damages), intentional torts (false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, battery, defamation), and premises liability (foreseeable harm, inadequate security). Risk management means identifying, assessing, mitigating, and documenting risk before an incident. Know the chain of custody - every person who handled evidence, when, and why - and the rules for packaging, labeling, sealing, and storing evidence (paper for biological, plastic for most other items, seal with initials and date). Understand spoliation (destruction of evidence) and the duty to preserve CCTV, logs, and reports. Know the difference between evidence and property and the policy for returning property to owners.
Traps
Questions test whether you handle evidence with gloves and a chain-of-custody form or just pick it up. Another trap: viewing CCTV and then overwriting it - preserve first. Watch for questions where the officer wants to "clean up" a scene before police arrive - preserve the scene. Also watch for questions about admitting fault after an incident - document facts, don't speculate.
Rule of thumb
Preserve, package, label, log. If you can't show who touched it and when, you can't prove what it is.