U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Image of United States Department of Justice seal Community Oriented Policing Services logo www.cops.usdoj.gov Fact Sheet Police Integrity "ONE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPAL OF COMMUNITY POLICING IS PUBLIC TRUST. IF TRUST DOES NOT EXIST BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND THEIR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY THEN COMMUNITY POLICING EFFORTS WILL NOT WORK. INTEGRITY MUST BE THE FOUNDATION OF EVERYTHING WE DO, AND IS THE CORNERSTONE OF COMMUNITY POLICING." CARL R. PEED DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICES The COPS Office has taken a lead role in promoting police integrity and has supported the equal treatment of citizens as a priority since FY1996. The COPS Office sponsored the first National Symposium on Police Integrity and followed up with a series of regional technical assistance conferences. The goal was to facilitate a national dialogue on significant integrity issues. The COPS Office expanded its investment in integrity 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 that concentrated on the effective use of early warning systems, complaint investigations, use of force policies, and racial profiling. 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 that build trust between police and their communities. Ongoing strategies include best practices, the development of model problem-solving partnerships, and national training to be delivered through COPS national network of Regional Community Policing Institutes. Enhancing Cultures of Integrity Funded in FY2003, the COPS Office expanded the 2002 Creating a Culture of Integrity program by funding four law enforcement agencies to develop large-scale police integrity projects from the topics identified under the initial Culture program. This initiative will advance and institutionalize the work currently being done to build police-community partnerships and to continue the development of best practices that can be shared with other agencies across the country. The four agencies that are funded include: • Sacramento County (CA) Sheriff's Department • San Diego (CA) Police Department • Boston (MA) Police Department • Virginia Beach (VA) Police Department These comprehensive projects will include an evaluation component and a technical assistance guide that will document lessons learned throughout project development and implementation. The guides will be disseminated to law enforcement agencies interested in replicating these strategies. Creating a Culture of Integrity Funded in FY2002, the objective of this grant program is to build on and strengthen the police integrity initiatives developed by COPS for purposes of creating community policing environments that foster trust and mutual respect between police and citizens. This plan builds on past initiatives but expands COPS efforts to create a culture of integrity in police departments. This expansion includes grants to law enforcement agencies and state chiefs' and sheriffs' associations. The law enforcement agencies were funded to design a strategy that will assist them in responding proactively to police integrity issues. The project will develop best practices that support a culture of integrity in law enforcement agencies. Strategy areas include: • Use of force policy and training • Development of early intervention systems • Mapping integrity violations and related interventions • Self assessment techniques for internal monitoring • Strengthening internal affairs division operations • Improving citizen complaint processes • Utilizing a civilian review board • Command staff integrity training • Ensuring accountability to the community • Outreach to minority youth • Traffic stop data collection • Recruiting quality personnel from local communities The state chiefs' and sheriffs' associations were funded to host police integrity training workshops at their annual meetings. This initiative will help support law enforcement agencies across the country to focus their efforts on creating cultures of integrity. Topic areas include: • Integrity training to support community policing • Homeland security and police integrity • Building public trust and confidence • Integrity challenges to police leadership • Developing policy that strengthens integrity Collaborative Leadership Project Funded in FY2001 and expanded in FY2002, the Collaborative Leadership Project creates models for developing local solutions to community problems that affect police integrity. These collaborative partnerships combine national expertise with local stakeholders and focus on problem-solving. The local partners consist of a law enforcement agency and a community organization, where there is a historically challenging relationship. These projects will result in model partnerships and best practices focused on important integrity issues that can be replicated across the country. Promoting Cooperative Strategies to Reduce Racial Profiling Funded in FY2001, the goal of this targeted grant initiative is to assist 21 law enforcement agencies in creating or strengthening local projects in six topic areas that build trust between police and their communities. Each agency was funded to develop best practices and technical assistance guides that will share their expertise and lessons learned in reducing racial profiling. Strategy areas include: • Collecting and analyzing traffic-stop data • Accountability and supervision • Recruitment and selection • Training and education of police and citizens • Using technology to prevent racial profiling • Minority community engagement initiatives Police Integrity National Training Initiative Since FY2001, the goal of the Police Integrity National Training Initiative is to deliver training on ethics and significant integrity issues to law enforcement officers and community members through the RCPI network. The national training includes two levels of instruction: 1. A basic ethics course for the individual officer and their supervisor. 2. Topic-focused courses for law enforcement executives in the areas of: • Early identification and intervention systems • Citizen complaint intake and investigations • Managing use of force issues in a community policing environment • Racial profiling: issues and dilemmas By supporting the development of this broad array of initiatives, COPS seeks to create community policing environments that develop trust and mutual respect between police and their communities and to ensure equal treatment for all citizens. COPS offers a variety of publications, products, and training opportunities to advance community policing and support its grant programs. COPS publications and products offer insights and experiences from others in the field addressing specific problems including: • Early Intervention Systems for Law Enforcement Agencies: A Planning and Management Guide • Mutual Respect in Policing • How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: Your Reputation Depends On It! • Collaboration Toolkit COPS also sponsors training opportunities and conferences to give law enforcement professionals an opportunity to learn, network, and exchange ideas. COPS publications and training opportunities are posted at COPS Online at www.cops.usdoj.gov. Contact COPS For more information on how COPS programs may best be utilized to shape community policing practices, please call the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 1.800.421.6770, or visit the COPS website at: www.cops.usdoj.gov Updated October 16, 2003 e10032081