BPD Policies and Training Materials

Our policies set the standards and expectations for officer actions and guide the department’s training curriculum. A key part of the department’s reform efforts under the Consent Decree is to update our policies to incorporate national best-practices and feedback from the community.

On this page, you can browse and search all draft and active Baltimore Police Department policies. 

  • Draft policies are policies and training materials that are currently being revised and may be open for public comment.  
  • Active policies are current policies that have been adopted and trained upon. 

Policy and Training Development Process

Flowchart showing the policy and training development process

Under the Consent Decree (CD), the Baltimore Police Department’s policies and training undergo a stringent development process. This process includes collaboration with the Department of Justice and Monitoring Team as well as feedback from officers and members of the community.

A policy does not become an active policy until several steps are achieved. Take a look at the flowchart to learn more about BPD’s policy and training development process.

CLICK TO ENLARGE FLOWCHART

Read More

More about draft policies and training materials

In 2017, the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) entered into a court-approved Consent Decree with the United States Department of Justice to promote fair and constitutional policing through a set of comprehensive, specific, and transparent reforms. Adoption of the Consent Decree’s recommendations is a multi-year process. Throughout this process, the BPD is seeking feedback to ensure transparency and rebuild trust in the BPD. The BPD believes that community members and members of the Department should have an opportunity to review and comment on its draft policies before they are submitted to the Court for approval and adopted by the Department.

You are invited and encouraged to inspect our draft policies and submit feedback. All comments will be reviewed, and – as appropriate – may lead to changes in the policy.

To provide comment, click on the “Let’s Hear Your Feedback” button. Please include the policy number with your comments.

If you wish to leave contact information so that members of the BPD may follow up with you about your comments, please feel free to do so; otherwise, your comments will be anonymous.

Thank you for your lending your voice to this process.

More about active policies

The policies of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), issued under the authority of the Police Commissioner, set forth the standards, values, and expectations of the BPD. These policies and procedures exist to maintain high levels of professional conduct and are the embodiment of the BPD's concerns for ensuring effective, safe, and constitutional law enforcement. We review evidence-based research and consult publications written by the Department of Justice, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Police Executive Research Forum, and other professional organizations to adopt policies that reflect national best practices.


Some information has been redacted from the policies because it is law enforcement sensitive. Other redactions are to ensure the safety of citizens, crime victims, and members of the Baltimore Police Department. Additional redacts shield internal telephone numbers and email addresses to ensure that confidential or privileged means of communication are not compromised.

Browse and Search Policies