Wadewitz v. Montgomery

In Wadewitz v. Montgomery, 951 S.W.2d 464, 466, 40 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 894-67 (Tex. 1997), the Court extended that test to an officer's high-speed emergency response and elaborated on Chambers' need and risk elements by announcing specific factors that officers must consider to show that they acted in good faith. In Wadewitz, the Court adhered to Chambers' general good-faith framework. 951 S.W.2d at 467. But we elaborated on the need and risk elements and applied them to an emergency-response situation involving a police officer who, in responding to an emergency call, collided with a third-party motorist. Id. The Court articulated specific factors for courts to consider in determining whether an officer sufficiently assessed both need and risk for the purpose of establishing good faith: The "need" aspect of the test refers to the urgency of the circumstances requiring police intervention. . . . Need is determined by factors such as the seriousness of the crime or accident to which the officer responds, whether the officer's immediate presence is necessary to prevent injury or loss of life or to apprehend a suspect, and what alternative courses of action, if any, are available to achieve a comparable result. The "risk" aspect of good faith, on the other hand, refers to the countervailing public safety concerns: the nature and severity of harm that the officer's actions could cause (including injuries to bystanders as well as the possibility that an accident would prevent the officer from reaching the scene of the emergency), the likelihood that any harm would occur, and whether any risk of harm would be clear to a reasonably prudent officer. Id. The Court applied the Chambers good faith test (City of Lancaster v. Chambers ) for the first time and elaborated on the test's risk and need elements in the context of an emergency response. See Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467. The need element refers to the "urgency of the circumstances requiring police intervention," or "the seriousness of the crime or accident to which the officer responds, whether the officer's immediate presence is necessary to prevent injury or loss of life or to apprehend a suspect, and what alternative courses of action, if any, are available to achieve a comparable result." Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467. The risk element of good faith refers to "the countervailing public safety concerns," or "the nature and severity of harm that the officer's actions could cause (including injuries to bystanders as well as the possibility that an accident would prevent the officer from reaching the scene of the emergency), the likelihood that any harm would occur, and whether any risk of harm would be clear to a reasonably prudent officer." Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467.