IACP Policy Center Topic Directory
For more than 30 years, the IACP Policy Center has been identifying leading practices and providing sound guidance to the policing profession to assist in developing policies for individual departments.
Model Policies
All Policy Center Resources
Mental Illness*
Responding to situations involving individuals reasonably believed to be persons in crisis (PIC) necessitates an officer to make difficult judgments about the mental state and...
Micro-Cassette Recorders
A police officer may surreptitiously record conversations when such use is appropriate to the proper performance of his/her official duties, where the recordings are consistent...
Missing Children
Law enforcement agencies should expeditiously respond to and thoroughly investigate all reports of missing children without regard to jurisdiction, coordinate a response with the appropriate jurisdiction...
Missing Persons
Some missing person reports involve individuals who have voluntarily left home for personal reasons, while other reports are often unfounded or quickly resolved. However, there...
Mobile Communication Devices
Law enforcement agency often use mobile communication devices (MCDs) in the course of police operations to enhance departmental communication. MCDs may be used by officers...
Mobile Video Recording Equipment
The use of an mobile video recording (MVR) system provides persuasive documentary evidence and helps defend against civil litigation and allegations of officer misconduct. Officers...
Motor Vehicle Impoundment
Officers are routinely faced with the question of whether to impound or tow motor vehicles for purposes of safekeeping property, securing evidence, protecting the public...
Motor Vehicle Inventories
A motor vehicle inventory is an administrative measure designed to protect motor vehicles and their contents while in police custody; to protect the agency against...
Motor Vehicle Searches
Law enforcement officers should conduct motor vehicle searches that are both legal and thorough. Such searches should be conducted in strict observance of the constitutional rights of...
Motor Vehicle Stops
Motor vehicle stops should be performed professionally and courteously. Law enforcement agencies should promote the education of the public about proper driving procedures, while recognizing and taking...
Multi-Agency Investigation Teams
Law enforcement agencies should recognize that the pooling and coordination of resources among regional law enforcement and criminal justice agencies is often the most effective and...
Mutual Aid
These documents discuss an interagency assistance policy intended to define the capabilities and obligations of participating departments to respond to emergency situations outside their own jurisdiction. Agencies...
Naloxone
Naloxone - commonly known by the brand name, Narcan - can be used to treat a narcotics overdose in an emergency. These documents explore the primary issues surrounding...
Off-Duty Arrests
Out-of-uniform, off-duty officers may confront criminal activity to which they should take, or must decide whether to take, enforcement action. When engaged in off-duty enforcement...
Officer-Involved Shootings and Other Serious Incidents
The accuracy and professionalism of officer-involved shooting investigations can have a significant impact on involved officers, their respective agencies, community-law enforcement relations, and public perceptions...
Overtime
All law enforcement personnel must be mindful of and exercise fiscal responsibility in the use of public funds and resources. Overtime pay requires particular attention...
Pandemic Flu
Health care professionals predict that a pandemic influenza outbreak is highly likely, if not inevitable, based on current conditions and historical data. Should the current...
Performance Recognition Awards
The recognition of personal excellence is an important aspect of a law enforcement agency’s activities. Presenting departmental awards for meritorious service provides that recognition, thereby...
Personal Relationships in the Workplace
Among the more challenging personnel problems faced by law enforcement administrators is the difficulty created by certain personal relationships existing or developing among employees of...
Personally Assigned Vehicles
Personally assigned vehicles are designated to officers of some law enforcement agencies in order to enhance public safety through increased visibility of police vehicles in the...
Every effort has been made by the IACP Policy Center staff and advisory board to ensure that these documents incorporate the most current information and contemporary judgment on these issues. However, police administrators should be cautioned that no model policy can meet all the needs of any given police agency. In addition, the formulation of specific agency policies must take into account local political and community perspectives and customs, prerogatives, and demands; often divergent policing strategies and philosophies; and the impact of varied agency resource capabilities, among other factors. Readers outside of the United States should note that, while these documents promote procedures reflective of a democratic society, their legal basis follows United States Supreme Court rulings and other federal laws and statutes. Police administrators should be cautioned that each police agency operates in a unique environment of court rulings, state laws, local ordinances, regulations, judicial and administrative decisions, and collective bargaining agreements that must be considered and should, therefore, consult their agency's legal advisor before implementing any policy.
The IACP Policy Center documents are periodically updated, and the most current versions are published to this website. To minimize confusion and to help ensure reference to the most recent documents available, the IACP Policy Center does not distribute prior versions of any documents that have since been updated.
