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WALLINGFORD v. HARTFORD ACCIDENT & INDEMNITY CO.11/8/1994
The principal issue in this action for a declaratory judgment is whether a provision in an
insurance contract excluding coverage for bodily injury claims arising out of police "activities" excludes coverage for claims based on the alleged negligence of police in operating a town jail.
The plaintiffs in this action are the town of Wallingford and three members of the Wallingford police department. They sought a judgment declaring that either or both of the defendants, the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company and the Hartford Insurance Group, are obligated to defend and indemnify them against a lawsuit filed by a third party. The trial court, holding that a provision in the insurance contract excluded coverage, granted summary judgment for the defendants. The plaintiffs appealed from the judgment of the trial court to the Appellate Court, and we transferred the appeal to this court pursuant to Practice Book § 4023 and General Statutes § 51-199(c). We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The relevant facts are undisputed. In 1988, the administrator of the estate of Cristobal Rosado brought an action against the plaintiffs for Rosado's wrongful death. The complaint (Rosado complaint) alleged the following. In December, 1986, Officer Dennis Reynolds arrested Rosado on a charge of shoplifting and took him to the Wallingford police station, where Rosado was placed in a detention cell. Reynolds or other Wallingford police officers knew or had reason to believe that Rosado was emotionally distraught, that he had tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), or that he had AIDS, that he used drugs, and that he had requested medical attention. Sometime on the day of his arrest, Rosado hanged himself in his cell. Although the police department had installed a
video monitor that was designed to prevent suicide attempts, the police dispatcher had observed Rosado on the monitor only after Rosado had hanged himself. The dispatcher had asked a police officer to try to revive Rosado, but the officer stopped his efforts after learning that Rosado had claimed to have AIDS.
The Rosado complaint alleged that the plaintiffs were negligent in that the arresting officer had failed to provide Rosado with necessary medical care, the dispatcher had failed to monitor Rosado in his cell, and the police chief (a) had failed to train his officers in how to recognize and treat prisoners who need medical attention or who need attention because of "suicidal tendencies or abnormal personalities," (b)had failed to train his officers about how to provide emergency medical care to prisoners with AIDS and its related diseases, and (c) had failed to provide equipment to allow officers to give medical treatment to prisoners who are suspected of having AIDS or its related diseases.
At the time of the incident in question, the town of Wallingford was covered by a comprehensive general liability insurance policy under which the defendants agreed to defend and indemnify the town against certain claims brought against it. The policy, however, included the following exclusionary clause, entitled "Exclusion of Law Enforcement Activities": "It is agreed that the insurance does not apply to bodily injury or property damage arising out of the activities of police personnel, police departments or other law enforcement agencies or the individual or joint action of a member or members of the police department or other law enforcement agencies in the line of duty or on behalf of or on the orders of the named insured."
The plaintiffs sought to have the defendants defend and indemnify them against
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