Simpson v. City of Whatcom

Citations

• 33 Wash. 392
• 63 L.R.A. 815
• 74 P. 577
• 1903 Wash. LEXIS 533

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Cokpobatioxs—Enforcing Void Ordinance—Liability fob Acts of Police Officers—City as State Instrumentality—Damages for Unauthorized Arrest. A municipal corporation is not liable for the acts of its police officers in arresting and prosecuting a person under a void ordinance requiring bicycles to be licensed, although the city receives the benefit of the license fee and its law officers conducted the prosecution, since the damage arises in the performance of a duty imposed upon the city as a public instrumentality of the state.</p> <p>Same—Fees Collected foe the Benefit of City. The fact that the city received the benefit of the license fees does not make the duty a purely corporate one, as the legislature may distribute the revenue therefrom as it sees fit, and the city is liable only where the officers are acting for the city’s exclusive benefit.</p> <p>Same—Police Powees—Bicycles. Bicycles are vehicles and their use upon the public streets of a city is a proper subject for police regulation in the interests of public safety, to be enforced by the city acting as an instrumentality of the state.</p>