Police Integrity
Effective crime control requires a collaborative working relationship between
law enforcement and the communities that they are sworn to serve and protect. A
culture of police integrity is essential in building respect and trust and, in
turn, mutual respect and trust between police and citizens is essential to
effective crime control. Local law enforcement agencies operating within their
legal authority, in accordance with accepted police practices, and in an ethical
manner consistent with community expectations, means police integrity.
Since FY 1996, the COPS Office, through the Police Integrity Initiative, has
taken a lead role in promoting police integrity and supporting programs that
build trust between law enforcement and communities. The overall goal of the
Police Integrity Initiative is to meet emerging and changing law enforcement
needs by assisting agencies in creating or strengthening local programs. For
example, the COPS Office sponsored the first National Symposium on Police
Integrity and followed it with a series of regional technical assistance
conferences. The COPS Office expanded the scope of integrity issues to include
racial profiling and hosted a problem-solving working group on police stops and
searches. COPS also organized the U.S. Department of Justice's Conference on
Police-Community Relationships and participated in follow-up working groups.
These efforts culminated in a police integrity focus group that concentrated on
the effective use of early warning systems, complaint investigations,
use-of-force policies, and racial profiling. In addition, the COPS Office has
worked in partnership with the major law enforcement associations and others to
produce guidebooks and publications to assist agencies in developing and
strengthening their integrity programs.
As a catalyst for positive change, the COPS Office works with law enforcement
partners to address those issues, along with the recruitment and selection of
new police officers seeking service-oriented careers. Past and ongoing
strategies include best practices, the development of model problem-solving
partnerships, and national training delivered through the COPS national network
of Regional Community Policing Institutes.
The COPS Police Integrity Initiative promotes
integrity by supporting best practices and publications that include, but are
not limited to, the following topics:
- General Ethics and Integrity
- Early Intervention
- Citizen Complaints and Mediation
- Traffic Stop Data
- Accountability and Monitoring
