Qualified immunity safeguards police officers from personal lawsuits, unless they engage in behavior that they reasonably should have known violated a citizen’s rights. This protects officers from malicious lawsuits that would otherwise financially cripple them and hollow out departments.

Shielding civil servants from vindictive personal lawsuits is a common practice. Most government employees enjoy the same or similar protections. Park rangers, DMV clerks, judges, sanitation workers, and elected officials are all granted some level of immunity — despite the fact that none of them have to make nearly as many split-second and life-changing decisions as police officers.

Contrary to the misinformed and disingenuous arguments of critics, qualified immunity does not elevate police officers above the law, nor does it make it impossible to sue an officer for violating your rights. It is, by definition, “qualified,” limited, and conditional. As the Supreme Court held in 1986, it does not protect “the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.” A rogue officer who brutally beats a suspect or manufactures evidence, for example, can be held personally liable and sued for his actions.