Extremism within law enforcement ranks poses a threat to both the profession of law enforcement and the communities its members are sworn to serve. It can potentially erode or deeply damage the trust needed for communities to feel that their law enforcement agency is there to protect them. Those within law enforcement who participate in extremist-related activities, promote extremist ideologies or movements, or join extremist groups are behaving in a way that directly contradicts their oaths to serve, which makes communities less secure.

Nonetheless, this topic can often be difficult to discuss, especially during a time when the law enforcement profession faces a variety of challenges, changes, and shifting public attitudes. It may be daunting for leaders to have to consider yet another issue that can negatively affect a profession already in flux. However, the risks of not confronting this issue—or of failing to appreciate how detrimental the damage can be if left unchecked—are too high and too serious to ignore.

While some leaders may think this does not apply to their departments, the reality is that the problem exists, and it is happening within agencies around the United States. In the past 10 years, there have been 73 active U.S. law enforcement officers identified as participating in, supporting, or joining extremist movements or groups—and that is just the incidents reported publicly. To some, this number may seem high; others may not think this number is statistically significant. Regardless, no leader wants to be running an agency where this happens, only to learn about this type of behavior after the fact.