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FINAL ESSAY
Should Police Officers Who Lie Be Terminated as a Matter of Public
Policy?
Briana Crawley
Liberty University
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Final Essay
Should Police Officers Who Lie Be Terminated as a Matter of Public Policy?
Upon completion of the police academy, all recruits must take an oath to abide by the
Law Enforcement Code of Ethics. Within this code it states,
“Honest in thought and deed both in my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in
obeying the law and the regulations of my department… I recognize the badge of my
office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I
am true to the ethics of police service.” (Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, n.d.).
This code has numerous statements within it that speak to the upstanding character that police
officers must have. Police officers agree to uphold these standards as part of becoming law
enforcement officers. Most people lie in some context, including police officers, but as a part of
their official duties, they are to remain honest and fair. In certain situations, police officers are
allowed to lie, but these instances are only included in their official duties. Sanctioned lying for
police officers includes undercover work and interrogation techniques. In these occurrences,
police officers are allowed to be dishonest because they are operating under the law. During
these moments of dishonesty, police officers must still adhere to certain guidelines, so they do
not cross the line.
Testilying, the New York coined term, typically refers to perjury and other in-court
deception committed by police officers (Cunningham, 1999). Officers will testify to the matter at
hand, but they will stretch the truth slightly in order to get a guilty conviction. Officers do not
view this as lying, even though they are not being completely honest. Officers tread this thin line
