Integrity is a yardstick for trust, competence, professionalism, and confidence.
Deep within every human being is the subconscious ability to interpret behavior and events as a mark of integrity or a violation of trust. It is this universal tendency that makes the study of integrity complex, challenging, and important. Policing in a democracy requires high levels of integrity if it is to be acceptable to the people. Historically, in the United States, there have been many times when public trust in the integrity of the police has been questioned. Law enforcement is certainly a profession under scrutiny, for good reason.