The organization attempts to improve the working conditions of law enforcement officers and the safety of those they serve through education, legislation, information, community involvement, and employee representation.

The Fraternal Order of Police was founded in 1915 by two Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, patrol officers, Martin Toole and Delbert Nagle.

[3] The FOP official history states that the founders decided to not use the term "union" because of "the anti-union sentiment of the time," but nevertheless acted as a union, telling Pittsburgh mayor Joseph G. Armstrong that the FOP would "bring our grievances before the Mayor or Council and have many things adjusted that we are unable to present in any other way...we could get many things through our legislature that our Council will not, or cannot give us.

The constitution also had a no strike pledge, but this has not been enforced since 1967 when FOP police in Youngstown, Ohio refused to work during a salary dispute.

[4] During the 1960s the FOP opposed the creation of police review boards, spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy, at one point describing them as a "sinister movement against law enforcement".

The FOP also clashed with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on the issue of police brutality, seeing it as a "liberal attempt to discredit law enforcement".

Within the half circle over the centerpiece is our motto, "Jus, Fidus, Libertatum" which translated means "Law is a Safeguard of Freedom.

"[13] The Fraternal Order of Police Associates (FOPA) is a civilian affiliate organization that is made up of FOP supporters not eligible for membership.

[35] One of President Trump's first decisions when he returned to office was to grant blanket clemency to more than 1,500 people convicted for their role in the January 6 attack on the U.S.

[40][41] After athletic company Nike aired an ad featuring former NFL player Colin Kaepernick in 2018, FOP condemned it and called it an insult.

They are the result of stress on the job, emphasis of the system on the criminal and not the victim, and the media's exploitation of the negatives of law enforcement.

"[2] The human rights group Amnesty International has criticized the Fraternal Order of Police in Philadelphia for their vocal support of the death penalty in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

[47] Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has called the FOP a "fringe organization" for opposing his efforts to repeal the Tiahrt Amendment.

[50] In June 2018, Fraternal Order of Police Tri-County Lodge #3 in South Carolina objected to the inclusion of award-winning novel The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely in a high school summer reading list, because of their depictions of violence by police officers.

[54][55] In October 2020, the FOP posted a photo to Twitter and Facebook of a policewoman holding a toddler, claiming he had been found wandering the streets of Philadelphia amid the protests over the killing of Walter Wallace.

The toddler had in fact been pulled from the back of a vehicle unrelated to the protests after the police had surrounded it and violently arrested his mother and another passenger without probable cause.

This claim is heavily disputed as the video appears to show Toledo turning toward the officer and raising both hands with nothing in them when he was shot and killed.

[59][60] The series and investigation stars former heroin addict and legendary telemarketer Patrick J Pespas, and graffiti artist turned filmmaker Sam Lipman-Stern.

This endorsement was criticized as some people felt Trump was responsible for the January 6 United States Capitol attack and was also found guilty of falsifying business records.