We certainly cannot expect our police officers to make perfect decisions all of the time.  Because of this, the legal doctrine of qualified immunity generally applies to the decision they make.   "Qualified Immunity protects officers from being held personally legally responsible for a variety of constitutional violations (notably now:  the right to be free from the police using excessive force against them) for money damages under federal law if the police did not violate "clearly established law."

But right now, the Supreme Court is debating whether or not this protection for officers should continue to exist. 

OCTOBER 2020 Update:
This legislative session changes in the law have been adopted to help address instances of potential police misconduct:

• AB-1196 (Peace Officers Use of Force) was passed. The law, effective on the first of the year, prohibits the use of chokeholds (pressure to a person’s windpipe) and carotid holds (pressure to slow the flow of blood to the brain) by law enforcement.

• AB-1506 (Police Use of Force) was passed. The law This law will now shift the responsibility for investigating fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians to the Attorney General, and creates a new division (set to begin operating by mid-2023,) within the Department of Justice which will be tasked with reviewing use-of-force policies and make recommendations. 

​For more, see here. 

Public access to records regarding police misconduct has been a hot-button issue for the last several years.  Thankfully, New York is taking steps in the right direction to bring transparency to the misconduct of its officers.

For the full story see here.