Ethics and Professional Conduct
What this domain tests
Integrity under pressure: truthfulness, gifts, off-duty conduct, and the duty to report misconduct by peers.
Core rules
- The law enforcement code of ethics places protection of life and the rights of the accused above all else, and requires truthfulness in both speech and report.
- Untruthfulness is career-ending and case-ending: under Giglio and Brady, a sustained finding of dishonesty must be disclosed and can impeach every case you touch.
- Gratuities and discounts are not harmless. Their test is whether they compromise or appear to compromise judgment or create an obligation.
- Confidentiality: criminal history, investigative material, and medical information are not conversation topics.
- Off-duty conduct and social media reflect on the department and can establish bias or misconduct.
- The duty to intervene and report applies to excessive force and to any serious misconduct by another officer.
Worked example
A restaurant owner offers a free meal and says just take care of us. The officer declines, pays, and documents nothing improper occurred. Accepting creates a relationship the officer may later have to explain in court and to internal affairs.
Traps
- Minor dishonesty in a report to avoid paperwork; it becomes the impeachment issue, not the original offense.
- Accepting gifts while claiming no influence.
- Posting case details or opinions online.
- Staying silent about a colleague's misconduct and calling it loyalty.
- Using position for personal benefit, such as running plates for a friend.