Florence walked her child to school. For several weeks
she noticed that the city police had a guard at a street crossing. The
mother stopped walking the child, figuring the guard would ensure her
safety.
Soon after, the crossing guard called in sick.
Departmental regulations required sending a substitute if possible, but no
substitute could be found and no one was notified.
The child crossed the street alone and was hit by a car.
The mother sued the city and the driver of the car.
The Trial Court found the city guilty of negligence.
The city appealed.
The Appellate Court affirmed.
The Appellate Court found that the city could not be held
liable for failure to furnish adequate police protection...in general.
However, the city had voluntarily assumed a special duty
intended to benefit a special class of persons (schoolchildren). This
constituted more than the general duty to provide police protection to
the public at large.
The Appellate Court found that the city, having assumed a
duty to a special class of persons, and having gone forward with
performance of that duty in the past, had an obligation to continue its
performance.
Since Florence would not have allowed her child to walk
to school if she hadn't observed the crossing guard, the city put the
child at greater risk than if they had never provided a crossing guard
at all.
Florence had detrimentally relied on an illusory
promise of protection.
