In the wake of Uvalde shooting police departments nationwide vow to do no harm

The Peace Officer Promise policing's Hippocratic oath reaches 45 states and DC from Police2Peace

NEW YORK, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With the looming issue of national police reform unsettled, communities around the nation seek viable approaches to eliminating police harm while protecting the communities they serve. In response, the 501 (c)(3) organization Police2Peace launched The Peace Officer Promise, the first community-based oath to address harm reduction by the police. Like the Hippocratic Oath physicians take to do no harm, The Peace Officer Promise is policing's answer to this issue. Hundreds of policing agencies from 45 states and DC already support The Peace Officer Promise.

Harm reduction by the police extends not only to actions the police have taken in the past, but also to actions the police must take to keep people from being harmed in the future. If a policing agency commits to 'do no harm', it is incumbent upon them to understand and avoid preventable errors, such as the errors reported in the recent Uvalde, TX shooting.  And with the nation on track to meet or exceed the nation's worst year on record for mass shootings, police departments are seeking solutions.

"An agency which makes The Peace Officer Promise seeks to identify their own preventable errors and system weakness that could result in tragic outcomes," said Jim Bueermann, a 40+ year veteran of policing, retired police chief and past president of the National Police Foundation, now called the National Policing Institute. "The Peace Officer Promise is a community and policing solution to keep people safe."

While rebounding slightly from a 2021 low following the George Floyd killing, trust and confidence in the police remain near an all-time low.   

"The Promise isn't just about harm reduction it's about the nobility of policing," said Jonathan Parham, Police Director of the Rahway Police Department in Rahway NJ. "If we're going to build trust and confidence in the police, we're going to need to change the culture of policing. The Peace Officer Promise and the nobility it conveys does just that."

Police2Peace is advancing the national framework of police officers as "Peace Officers" to address community dissatisfaction with the police and build public trust.  It is a source of programs and policies for departments, municipalities and communities throughout the U.S. 

For more information on the Peace Officer Promise, go to:  https://police2peace.com/peace-officer-promise/ 

SOURCE Police2Peace