The authors seek to answer the following questions: Does the Police need ethics? Is ethics not counter effective in the activities of the Police? Is there a relationship between how ethical the Police is, and how the society trusts it? The authors refer to the experience of the Police in Europe, and in Germany and France in particular. They present the historical and contemporary ethical context of the activity of the Police in these two countries, outlining the events that led to the adoption of the documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The authors believe however that these documents are not the last stage in the debate on moral standards in European police institutions.