Ethics
Law enforcement administrators agree that upholding professional ethics and integrity is critically important for the profession. From recruiting and selection, through promotions and assignments, to training and field activities, no other factor weaves such a powerful web through every aspect of policing. There is a critical need to heighten the awareness and visibility of our ethical standards, both internally and externally. The IACP offers resources designed to provide guidance, instructional assistance, and resources to chief executives, planners, instructors, supervisors and officers on the topic of ethics in policing.
The Oath of Honor
The IACP Oath of Honor punctuates the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and respect and ensuring the preservation of human life. This important…
Policing Code of Ethics
The IACP adopted the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics at the 64th Annual IACP Conference and Exposition in October 1957, and updated it in 2024…
Policy Center Resources
See AllEyewitness Identification
Law enforcement agencies should develop evidence-based guidelines for effectively conducting eyewitness identifications in order to maximize the reliability of identifications, minimize erroneous identifications, and gather evidence...
Harassment and Discrimination
In a time where the costs of liability insurance continue to rise driving many towns to self-insure or join insurance pools, law enforcement executives have...
Policy Center Resource
Standards of Conduct
Law enforcement officers must accept and abide by a high ethical and moral standard that is consistent with the rule of law they are sworn...
Bias-Free Policing*
Persons having contact with members of a law enforcement agency should be treated in a fair, impartial, equitable, and objective manner, in accordance with law, and without...
Resources
Duty to Intervene
The policing profession is dedicated to maintaining law and order, protecting the community, and ensuring community safety. An agency's duty to intervene policy aims to…
Support for Advancing the Quality of the Policing Culture
Submitted by: Police Professional Standards, Ethics, and Image Committee in partnership with the Community Policing Committee, the Human & Civil Rights Committee, and the Police…
Considering Locative Technology in the Disability Community: Balancing Autonomy and Safety
This resource explores key considerations, including advantages and disadvantages, for locative technology to address wandering by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities or dementia. It…
Police Chaplains
Police chaplains assist police agency personnel with personal, spiritual, moral, and ethical consultation. Police chaplains are clergy whose function is to provide support and guidance…
