Saraceno v. City of Philadelphia

Full title: JOSEPH SARACENO, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, et al., Defendants

Court: United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania

Date published: Nov 8, 2004

Civil Action No. 04-481 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 8, 2004)

Opinion

Civil Action No. 04-481.

November 8, 2004

ORDER

BERLE M. SCHILLER, District Judge

AND NOW, this 8^th day of November, 2004, upon consideration of Defendants' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Plaintiff's response thereto, it is hereby ORDERED that:

1. Defendants' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Document No. 7) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows:

a. By agreement of the parties, Defendants' Motion is GRANTED as to all claims against the City of Philadelphia and against Defendant Sergeant Greer in his official capacity.¹

b. Defendants' Motion is GRANTED as to all claims against the Philadelphia Police Department.²

c. Defendants' Motion is DENIED in all other respects.

1 Where a suit is brought against a public officer in his official capacity, the suit is treated as if it were brought against the governmental entity of which he is an officer. Brandon v. Holt, 469 U.S. 464, 471-72 (1985).

2 In § 1983 actions, a defendant may not sue a municipal police department "because the police department is merely an administrative arm of the local municipality, and is not a separate judicial entity." DeBellis v. Kulp, 166 F. Supp. 2d 255, 264 (E.D. Pa. 2001) (collecting cases); Agresta v. City of Phila., 694 F. Supp. 117, 119 (E.D. Pa. 1988).

2. Judgment is entered in favor of the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Police Department and against Plaintiff.