Continuum of Police Crime: An Empirical Study of Court Cases (original) (raw)

Police misconduct and crime: bad apples or systems failure?

Journal of Money Laundering Control, 2012

There is a debate in the research literature whether to view police misconduct and crime as acts of individuals perceived as 'rotten apples' or as an indication of systems failure in the police force. Based on an archival analysis of court cases where police employees were prosecuted, this paper attempts to explore the extent of rotten apples versus systems failure in the police. Exploratory research of 57 prosecuted police officers in Norway indicate that there were more rotten apple cases than system failure cases. The individual failures seem to be the norm rather than the exception of ethical breaches, therefore enhancing the rotten apple theory. However as exploratory research, police crime may still be explained at the organizational level as well.

A multivariate model of police deviance: examining the nature of corruption, crime and misconduct

Policing & Society, 2009

The current study aimed to explore the multivariate nature of police deviance in order to identify a descriptive model of the features of behaviour that could potentially inform approaches to prevention. Fifty cases were coded from law reports to extract variables of deviant behaviour. These were analysed descriptively to obtain frequencies and then statistically using Multidimensional Scalogram Analysis to explore the relationships between the variables. A three-way model similar to Punch's (2000) definition incorporating Police Crime, Noble Cause Misconduct and Corruption was identified, with Police Crime being the most frequent. This typically involved Constables committing proactive single criminal offences alone for personal gain. The findings are discussed in terms of explanations for the behaviour and also prevention strategies such as increasing police accountability, (awareness of) consequences and transformational leadership. A Multivariate Model 3 A MULTIVARIATE MODEL OF POLICE DEVIANCE: EXAMINING THE NATURE OF CORRUPTION, CRIME AND MISCONDUCT

Conceptual framework for managing knowledge of police deviance

Policing and Society, 2010

This is a conceptual paper on police deviance and its multi-faceted forms. It seeks to address the lack of an adequately formulated framework in the literature of the breadth and depth of police misconduct and corruption. The paper argues for the use of a proposed 'sliding scale' of police deviance by examining the nature, extent and progression of police deviance and crime using research in Australia and Canada as illustrative case studies. This sliding scale is designed to research, capture, and store and hence extend the knowledge base of what constitutes police deviance at the level of the individual, the group and the organisational contexts of policing. As such, the conceptual framework is a robust yet flexible research tool and it's utility as a sliding scale constitutes a step forward in advancing the knowledge on police deviance and criminality through adopting an integrated and holistic approach to managing such knowledge.

The Measurement of Seriousness of Police Corruption

2004

Previous studies of crime seriousness focused on ordinary street crimes and typically neglected to include cases of police misconduct. This paper examines seriousness evaluations of police corruption provided by both police officers and the public. The respondents-police officers, Police College students, Police High School students, and college students from Croatia-were asked to evaluate the seriousness of 11 hypothetical scenarios. The results suggest that, while absolute evaluations of seriousness differ, their relative rankings match closely across various groups of respondents regardless of their theoretical knowledge of and practical experience in policing. A comparison of the seriousness evaluations by Police College students and college students also indicates that, despite the changes in the political and social environment in the five-year period (1996-2001), both the absolute and relative evaluations of seriousness remained stable.

European Journal of policing Studies EJPS vl 3 Issue 3

This issue of the European Journal of Policing Studies is a mixed issue, combining four very different articles. First of all, Kerry Griffiths (UK) and colleagues report on their systematic literature review (carried out in the framework of an international research project) on knowledge sharing in and between police organisations in Europe. They show that criminal intelligence and technology were at the core of this type of research and discuss the main recommendations that were formulated in these studies. Petter Gottschalk (Norway), in the second paper, focuses on another dimension of policing. He analysed investigation reports by private internal investigators and uses this analysis to discuss four problematic issues: privatization of law enforcement, disclosure, competence and limits of private investigations. Thirdly, Jannie Noppe (Belgium) contributes to the literature on the use of force by police officers. The author reports on her test of an integrative action theory that was carried out by means of a survey among Belgian police officers. This paper discusses the links between the moral support for the use of force and trust or respect for the police, but also between moral support for and the actual use of force. The fourth article, by Sara Stronks (the Netherlands) explores the function of reconciliation in police-citizens relationships. On the basis of interviews, she finds that security and compatibility are important in police-citizens relationships. The author describes how reconciliation can play an important role in relationship maintenance. This issue is concluded by a book review by Sophie Body-Gendrot on ‘Riots and Political Protest’ (Winlow, Hall, Treadwell & Briggs, 2014).

Exit Strategy: An Exploration of Late-Stage Police Crime

Police Quarterly, 2010

There are no exhaustive statistics available on the crimes committed by law enforcement officers, and only a small number of studies provide specific data on police crimes. The purpose of the current study is to examine the character of police arrests known to the media. Cases were identified through a content analysis of news coverage using the internet-based Google TM News search engine and its Google News Alerts search tool. The study focuses on the crimes committed by experienced officers who are approaching retirement. The occurrence of these late-stage crimes presents a challenge to existing assumptions regarding the relationship between experience and various forms of police misconduct, and also provides an opportunity to examine a stage of the police career that has not been the subject of much research. The paper concludes with an identification of research and policy implications, and includes a discussion regarding how our data should be interpreted within the context of existing studies on police socialization and the production of misconduct.

Shades of Grey in the Thin Blue Line: Determinates of Police Conduct

As a service, constantly in the public eye, police are subject to closer scrutiny, comparison and critique by internal and external bodies. The role of police and the principles governing operational standards, ethics and integrity, vary from society to society. This contribution explores - and questions - the relationship between the Rule of Law and Human Rights as the overriding governing principles of ethical policing within a pluralistic democratic society. After examining the role of police in differing societies, the influence of the rule of law, standards guidance provided by the various human right instruments, and its projection into the community, existing and future challenges are identified. The contribution concludes that without an enabling and assertive organisational culture that affirms these principles, integrity breaches by individuals, as well as institutions, will continue to exist.