IACP Trust Building Campaign

The IACP Trust Building Campaign seeks to enhance trust between police agencies and the communities they serve by ensuring positive community-police partnerships that promote safe, effective interactions; create strategies to prevent and reduce crime; and improve the well-being and quality of life for all.

To join the campaign, police agencies must pledge to implement the outlined key policies and promising practices. These policies and practices represent six key focus areas that are essential to enhancing trust and collaboration between communities and police.

Bias-Free Policing
Use of Force
Leadership and Culture
Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention
Victim Services
Community Relations

Agencies and organizations demonstrating a serious commitment to implementing the key action items in all six areas will become publicly recognized members of the Trust Building Campaign.

How Does My Department Join?

Join the Trust Building Campaign

Key Focus Areas and IACP Resources Available to Assist Agencies

Bias-Free Policing

Establish a policy on bias-free policing.

Increase transparency and accountability of police use of force. Publish use of force and complaint process policies.

Provide officers with training and coaching on cultural responsivity.

Train officers on the unique makeup and needs of their communities based on country of origin, religious and cultural practices, etc. which may conflict with local laws.

Use of Force

Adopt the elements of the National Consensus Policy on Use of Force in the agency’s policies and procedures. Publish the agency’s use of force policy publicly.

Provide regular training on the agency’s use of force policy. Training should include scenario-based exercises that incorporate de-escalation techniques.

Document all use of force beyond handcuffing in agency records. Review these records on an annual basis to identify trends that need to be addressed in policy and training.

Participate in the National Use of Force database.

National Use-of-Force Data Collection

Leadership and Culture

Establish an agency policy or statement that recognizes the sanctity of life and the importance of preserving human life during all encounters. Each officer adopting the IACP Oath of Honor will meet this requirement.

Participate in an accreditation, certification, or credentialing process that includes an independent organization that reviews an agency’s policies and procedures.

Ensure training and policy reflect a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accountability, and promote procedural justice for community members and employees alike.

Establish an employee wellness program that includes both physical and mental health.

Conduct a culture assessment of the organization, with steps taken to address areas of concern.

Supporting Culture Change through Internal Communication with Officers and Civilian Staff

Provide body armor to officers, and require the wearing of soft body armor while on uniformed patrol.

Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention

Embrace the guardian officer rather than the warrior mindset in recruiting and training.

Establish minimum educational standards or equivalency requirements that can be met by prior life experience. Provide officers with the opportunity for advanced education and training opportunities.

Verify potential hires with the national decertification database before hiring experienced officers.

National Decertification Index (NDI)

Include measures of problem-solving, trust-building, and cultural responsivity in metrics of officer performance.

Victim Services

Train officers in trauma-informed responses.

Train officers on best practices, resources, and tools for communicating with community members who do not speak English or whose ability to communicate is impaired (e.g., people who are hard of hearing or deaf).

Establish partnerships to provide for mental health, substance abuse, and youth deflection/diversion resources in their community.

Community Relations

Educate communities on the dynamics of policing, and set reasonable expectations for their police. Establish shared expectations of the role police have in the community and how to evaluate police performance.

Establish a clear and timely complaint processes that does not require written or sworn statements to submit. Complaint processes and policies should be accessible to all.

Conduct a regular recurring survey of the community to measure the level of trust in the police.

Establish written strategies to engage with youth in the community to develop positive relationships with police officers and how to interact safely with police.