What Oath Do Police Officers Take? The Police Constable’s Oath of Office
Becoming a police constable is more than beginning a new job. Before serving as a constable, an officer makes a formal declaration setting out the principles and responsibilities that come with the office.
Commonly known as the Police Oath or Police Oath of Allegiance, the Police Constable’s Oath of Office represents the moment an individual publicly undertakes to serve the Crown, uphold the law, preserve the peace and carry out their duties faithfully.
For many police officers, it is one of the defining moments of their career.
What is the Police Constable’s Oath of Office?
In England and Wales, every police constable must be formally attested on appointment. Special constables are also required to make the declaration. Any Oath taken before 8th September 2022 was made to Queen Elizabeth II and the wording reflects that. The current wording includes a promise to:
“well and truly serve the King in the office of constable”
It also commits the officer to serve with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality; uphold fundamental human rights; accord equal respect to all people; preserve the peace; prevent offences against people and property; and discharge the duties of a constable faithfully according to law.
Although it is often called an Oath of Allegiance, the words are not simply an expression of personal loyalty to the monarch. They define the responsibilities of the independent office of constable and the officer’s duty to uphold the law impartially.
Police officers exercise considerable powers on behalf of the Crown. The declaration reminds every new constable that those powers must be used lawfully, fairly and without improper favour.
When does a police officer take the oath?
The declaration is made when a new police officer is attested as a constable.
Until attestation, the individual has not formally assumed the office and powers of a constable. Making the declaration therefore marks the legal and symbolic beginning of their police service.
The uniform, training, first posting and warrant card may all be remembered, but the oath expresses the promise underpinning everything that follows.
Years later, the words can carry even greater significance. They represent the commitment made at the beginning of a career and maintained through every shift, difficult decision and act of public service.
Why did the police oath change in 2002?
The prescribed wording for constables in England and Wales was changed by Section 83 of the Police Reform Act 2002.
The earlier oath required an officer to serve the monarch “without favour or affection, malice or ill-will”, preserve the peace and prevent offences against people and property.
The revised declaration retained the commitment to serve the monarch and uphold the law but added explicit promises to act with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, to uphold fundamental human rights and to accord equal respect to all people.
The change modernised the language and made several of the ethical principles associated with the office of constable more clearly visible within the declaration itself.
Both versions remain meaningful to former officers because the correct wording can reflect the declaration they made when their own police career began.
Do PSNI officers swear an oath to the monarch?
No. Officers of the Police Service of Northern Ireland do not swear an oath of allegiance to the King. The PSNI uses a separate declaration that does not include a promise to serve the monarch. Our framed Police Constable’s Oath of Office is therefore not offered as a PSNI oath. This distinction matters when choosing a personalised police service gift. The wording should accurately represent the recipient’s own service and the declaration applicable to them.
Is it a religious oath?
Officers can choose to take a religious oath using the words “I swear by Almighty God” or make a non-religious solemn affirmation. The framed version can reflect whether the officer took the religious oath or the non-religious attestation, helping to create a record that is personal to their own service. You simply tell us when you provide the details which version you would like.
A meaningful police retirement gift
A police retirement often marks the end of a career spanning 20, 30 or even more years.
Colleagues may have shared night shifts, major incidents, difficult investigations and a great many cups of tea consumed at thoroughly unreasonable hours. Finding a retirement gift that represents the whole of that service can be difficult.
A personalised framed Police Constable’s Oath of Office returns to where the career began: the promise made when the officer was first attested. It makes a meaningful presentation from a police team, station, department, friends or family. Personalised with the officer’s details, it becomes a lasting record of their service rather than simply another retirement present.
A personal reminder of your own police service
Not every framed police oath is purchased as a gift. Many former officers choose one for themselves because they want a permanent reminder of the career they completed and the responsibilities they carried. The oath may have been spoken decades earlier, but its words connect the beginning of that career with everything that followed. Displayed alongside photographs, commendations, medals or other police memorabilia, it records a commitment that remained important throughout an officer’s service.
A police gift with genuine meaning
A framed Police Constable’s Oath of Office is suitable for:
A retiring police officer
A long-service presentation
A gift from colleagues or a police team
A former constable or special constable
A family member wishing to commemorate someone’s police career
An officer who wants a lasting record of their own service
Every police career is different, but the oath stands at the beginning of them all. It is the promise upon which a career in the office of constable is built—and that makes it a particularly fitting way to honour the years of service that followed.
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