McMaster v. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, 1:18-cv-00337-SEB-DML. (2019)
Court: District Court, S.D. Indiana
Number: infdco20190319a92
Visitors: 6
Filed: Mar. 18, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 18, 2019
Summary: ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS (DKT. 17) SARAH EVANS BARKER , District Judge . Plaintiff sued Defendants in Marion Superior Court under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for constitutional and state-law torts. Defendants removed the action to this Court. Now before the Court is a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), filed by Defendant Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) on the grounds that it is not a suable entity under state law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 17(b).
Summary: ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS (DKT. 17) SARAH EVANS BARKER , District Judge . Plaintiff sued Defendants in Marion Superior Court under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for constitutional and state-law torts. Defendants removed the action to this Court. Now before the Court is a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), filed by Defendant Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) on the grounds that it is not a suable entity under state law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 17(b). ..
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ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS (DKT. 17)
SARAH EVANS BARKER, District Judge.
Plaintiff sued Defendants in Marion Superior Court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for constitutional and state-law torts. Defendants removed the action to this Court. Now before the Court is a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), filed by Defendant Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) on the grounds that it is not a suable entity under state law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 17(b).
As we have explained before,
Under Indiana law, a municipal police department is neither established as a separate legal entity nor granted the capacity to sue or be sued. Martin v. Fort Wayne Police Dept., 2011 WL 781383, at *6 (N.D. Ind. February 28, 2011). "Because a city's police department `is merely a vehicle through which the city government fulfills its policy functions,' it is not a proper defendant in a civil rights suit under § 1983." Mason v. City of Indianapolis, 2007 WL 2700193, at *8 (S.D. Ind. Sept. 11, 2007) (quoting Jones v. Bowman, 694 F.Supp. 538, 544 (N.D. Ind. 1988)); see also Martin, 2011 WL 781383, at *6 (finding that a police department is a division or arm of the municipality and therefore not a suable entity under Section 1983).
Branson v. Newburgh Police Dep't, 849 F.Supp.2d 802, 808 (S.D. Ind. 2011) (Young, J.)
Accordingly, IMPD, an Indiana municipal police department, is not a suable entity. IMPD's motion to dismiss is therefore GRANTED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Source: Leagle
