Although the nature, extent, and costs of police misconduct and corruption are difficult to determine, police misconduct clearly imposes direct costs as well as demoralizing both the police community and society. Existing regulations affect only the most serious offenders and do not require action against noncriminal behavior. To define police misconduct that can lead to decertification it is necessary to isolate the core and critical behaviors that have an impact on significant rights of citizens. Police agencies should also recognize that they are beginning to receive increased scrutiny and are increasingly accountable for police misconduct. A decertification process should begin with the identification of decertifiable misconduct. Departmental discipline may also occur, usually long before the outcome of the decertification proceeding is known, and may also take places in which decertification would be inappropriate. The entire process of defining misconduct would be easier if all police officers operated under a uniform set of ethical principles. Establishing a nationally accepted Code of Police Professional Responsibility would aid this process. Chart and footnotes