Guidance for Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Regarding the Use of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, National Origin, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Disability

This 2023 Guidance supersedes the Department of Justice’s 2014 Guidance regarding the use of race and other protected individual characteristics by Federal law enforcement agencies. It builds upon and expands the framework of the 2014 Guidance, reaffirms the Federal government’s deep commitment to ensuring that its law enforcement agencies gather and depend on information that is reliable and trustworthy, and promotes unbiased conduct during federal law enforcement and intelligence activities. The 2023 Guidance is the policy of the Department of Homeland Security as it applies to Federal law enforcement personnel and Federal non-law enforcement personnel engaged in or supporting Federal law enforcement activity and intelligence activity conducted by Federal law enforcement agencies, as further described in Policy Statement 500-02.