EPIC (Ethical Policing Is Courageous) is a peer intervention project undertaken by the Saint Paul Police Department. All officers, regardless of rank, will be trained with the ideals and tools of EPIC.
DEFINITIONS:
Intervention refers to an officer taking action to prevent another officer, regardless of rank, from actions of misconduct, or from exercising poor judgement that is likely to lead to misconduct or threaten the wellness of that officer, the community or the reputation of the Saint Paul Police Department.
Officer refers to any sworn member of the Saint Paul Police Department, regardless of rank.
Retaliation is the commission of an adverse action towards an employee who has been a participant in an EPIC intervention. Retaliation can be blatant or subtle.
EPIC has been adopted and implemented with the purpose of promoting a department-wide culture of high-quality and ethical policing. EPIC educates, empowers and supports the officers to play a meaningful role in “policing” one another. EPIC is a peer intervention program that teaches officers how to intervene to stop a wrongful action before it occurs. EPIC also educates officers to recognize these situations and intercede, regardless of whether or not the incident is already in progress.
The development, implementation and training of this program is a crucial component of the department’s continued commitment to provide legitimate and lawful constitutional policing to the public and promote just and ethical behavior. The EPIC program promotes officer wellness and seeks to foster and build upon the trust between the public and the Saint Paul Police Department. The Saint Paul Police Department strongly believes in the power of the EPIC program to effect positive change within our department. As such, the department recognizes the importance of providing a workplace free of retaliation as a result of good faith EPIC intervention.
The program serves to support officers who intervene or take action to prevent misconduct or instances of officers exercising poor judgement. EPIC intervention promotes active bystandership, and may include action to prevent or mitigate any of the following conduct or behavior:
• Unsafe behavior and/or bad tactics;
• Signs of stress, fatigue, or declining officer wellness;
• Cutting corners;
• Adverse encounters;
• Actions that could discredit the department;
• Policy or law violations.
An intervention may include, but is not limited to:
• Taking a primary role at a scene;
• Redirection of an officer to other tasks;
• Assuming custodial responsibility of a person in custody;
• Addressing a personal or professional issue with an officer.
RETALIATION IS PROHIBITED. No member of the Saint Paul Police Department shall take any negative action against an officer who upholds the ideals of EPIC by intervening where appropriate, regardless of the rank of involved officers. It is against department policy to retaliate against a good faith intervention by an officer. Supervisors will be held accountable for providing a working atmosphere free from retaliation.
Nothing in this policy is intended to circumvent SPPD G.O. 246.01 Response to Resistance or Aggression Procedure, Duty to Intervene , Responding to Persons in Crisis, and De-Escalation. An intervention does not change the reporting obligation of any member of the department. If an incident is not reportable under 246.01, it does not become reportable after the implementation of EPIC. EPIC is not intended as a means to increase or lessen an officer’s reporting obligation.
An attempted and/or accepted intervention shall be considered as a mitigating factor in any consequent discipline proceedings.
October 30, 2020