Max Schuster, as Administrator of the Estate of Arnold L. Schuster, Deceased, Appellant, v. City of New York, Respondent.

Should the government have a duty to protect citizens who are endangered by their assistance of the police?

Plaintiff’s son died soon after being threatened for supplying information that lead to the arrest of a wanted criminal. Prior to his death, the plaintiff’s son had requested protection from the police department but had been refused. The plaintiff sued the police department for negligence, on the theory that the police’s failure to provide protection lead to his son’s death.