Generally, a municipality is not liable to a person injured by the breach of a duty owed to the general public, such as a duty to provide police protection. On a negligence claim against a municipality exercising a governmental function, the plaintiff must first demonstrate that the municipality owed a special duty to the injured person. The elements required to establish the duty are: (1) an assumption by the municipality, through promises or actions, of an affirmative duty to act on behalf of the party who was injured; (2) knowledge on the part of the municipality's agents that inaction could lead to harm; (3) some form of direct contact between the municipality's agents and the injured party; and (4) that party's justifiable reliance on the municipality's affirmative undertaking.
Axt v. Hyde Park Police Dept., NY Slip Op 04298 (2d Dep't June 13, 2018)
Here is the decision.
