diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index fa5e87d3..4e1283d5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -14,6 +14,19 @@ Change Log
 Unreleased
 **********
 
+*
+
+0.8.0 - 2025-10-24
+******************
+
+Added
+=====
+
+* Allow disabling auto-load and auto-save of policies by setting CASBIN_AUTO_LOAD_POLICY_INTERVAL to -1.
+
+Changed
+=======
+
 * Migrate from using pycodestyle and isort to ruff for code quality checks and formatting.
 * Enhance enforcement command with dual operational modes (database and file mode).
 
diff --git a/openedx_authz/__init__.py b/openedx_authz/__init__.py
index 1415675a..28dd401f 100644
--- a/openedx_authz/__init__.py
+++ b/openedx_authz/__init__.py
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@
 
 import os
 
-__version__ = "0.7.0"
+__version__ = "0.8.0"
 
 ROOT_DIRECTORY = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
diff --git a/openedx_authz/engine/enforcer.py b/openedx_authz/engine/enforcer.py
index 0e45ac9c..cc591276 100644
--- a/openedx_authz/engine/enforcer.py
+++ b/openedx_authz/engine/enforcer.py
@@ -93,7 +93,12 @@ def _initialize_enforcer() -> SyncedEnforcer:
 
         adapter = ExtendedAdapter()
         enforcer = SyncedEnforcer(settings.CASBIN_MODEL, adapter)
-        enforcer.start_auto_load_policy(settings.CASBIN_AUTO_LOAD_POLICY_INTERVAL)
-        enforcer.enable_auto_save(True)
+        auto_load_policy_interval = getattr(settings, "CASBIN_AUTO_LOAD_POLICY_INTERVAL", 0)
+        if auto_load_policy_interval > 0:
+            enforcer.start_auto_load_policy(auto_load_policy_interval)
+            enforcer.enable_auto_save(True)
+        else:
+            # Disable auto-save to prevent unnecessary database writes
+            enforcer.enable_auto_save(False)
 
         return enforcer
diff --git a/openedx_authz/tests/api/test_roles.py b/openedx_authz/tests/api/test_roles.py
index ffac5f9c..0f4441ac 100644
--- a/openedx_authz/tests/api/test_roles.py
+++ b/openedx_authz/tests/api/test_roles.py
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ def setUpClass(cls):
         """
         super().setUpClass()
         AuthzEnforcer.get_enforcer().stop_auto_load_policy()
+        # Enable auto-save to ensure policies are saved to the database
+        # This is necessary because the tests are not using auto-load policy
+        AuthzEnforcer.get_enforcer().enable_auto_save(True)
         cls._seed_database_with_policies()
 
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/openedx_authz/tests/test_enforcer.py b/openedx_authz/tests/test_enforcer.py
index 6d2dccdc..878a3c3c 100644
--- a/openedx_authz/tests/test_enforcer.py
+++ b/openedx_authz/tests/test_enforcer.py
@@ -520,3 +520,40 @@ def test_auto_load_policy_detects_changes(self):
         # After auto-load, the new role assignment should be loaded
         policies_after_auto_load = global_enforcer.get_grouping_policy()
         self.assertIn(new_assignment, policies_after_auto_load)
+
+    @override_settings(CASBIN_AUTO_LOAD_POLICY_INTERVAL=-1)
+    def test_auto_load_disabled(self):
+        """Test that auto-load can be disabled by setting interval to -1.
+
+        This test verifies that when CASBIN_AUTO_LOAD_POLICY_INTERVAL is set to -1,
+        the enforcer does NOT automatically load policies from the database.
+
+        Expected result:
+            - Policies remain empty after seeding database
+            - Manual load_policy() is required to load policies
+            - New policies don't appear without manual reload
+        """
+        global_enforcer = AuthzEnforcer.get_enforcer()
+
+        # Initial policy count should be 0
+        initial_policy_count = len(global_enforcer.get_policy())
+        self.assertEqual(initial_policy_count, 0)
+
+        # Policies should still be empty since auto-load is disabled
+        # and no database queries should have been made
+        with self.assertNumQueries(0):
+            time.sleep(1.0)
+            policies_after_wait = global_enforcer.get_policy()
+            self.assertEqual(len(policies_after_wait), 0)
+
+        # Seed the database with policies
+        self._seed_database_with_policies()
+
+        # Manually load policies
+        with self.assertNumQueries(1):
+            time.sleep(1.0)
+            global_enforcer.load_policy()
+            # Since auto-save is also disabled, the policies should still
+            # be empty after manual load
+            policies_after_manual_load = global_enforcer.get_policy()
+            self.assertEqual(len(policies_after_manual_load), 0)