fallen blue knights controlling police corruption oct 2005

[...]... existing body of knowledge regarding police corruption and its control in several directions First, I propose a definition of police corruption that can distinguish between police corruption and other forms of police misconduct Second, I study the extent and nature of police corruption and provide a critical analysis of the prior studies attempting to measure police corruption Third, I establish a complex... to control corruption successfully over extended periods of time The first part of the book walks the reader through a definition of police corruption, its measurement, and its causes and correlates In chapter 2 I define police corruption as an abuse of the police officer’s official position for personal gain, determine key elements of police corruption, and establish criteria to distinguish corruption. .. to examine the underlying causes that lead to corruption or allow the corruption to continue Finally, as shocking as it may sound, the reality is that police corruption cannot be eradicated completely A certain level of corruption will always be present Thus, investing extensive resources into corruption control in pursuit of a completely corruption- free police agency may backfire Too much control can... correlates of police corruption It incorporates police officers’ individual characteristics and explains how the police agency affects police officers’ propensity toward corruption It illustrates the effects of agency-related factors, such as recruitment and selection, training, supervision, and investigation and punishment of corruption In the chapter I further discuss how societal factors influence corruption. .. agency The definition of police corruption developed in this book highlights a common thread: the police officer engaging in corrupt behavior motivated by the achievement of personal gain Police corruption is an action or omission, a promise of action or omission, or an attempted action or omission, committed by a police officer or a group of police officers, characterized by the police officer’s misuse... committed” (p 144) If the public revelations of police corruption eventually trigger a major scandal (see, e.g., Burnham, 1970, leading toward Knapp Commission, 1972), public opinion about the integrity of the police department, the public’s trust in the police, and the legitimacy of the police will have been eroded, and the police officers’ ability to police themselves will be seriously challenged (see,... of traditional corruption- control systems suggest convincingly that corruption control should go beyond blaming individual police officers and reacting only to discovery of individual cases A Novel Approach to Corruption Control Historically, reasoning about police corruption and its control extended across three themes: defining police corruption, determining its causes, and prescribing methods of control... elements related to the definition of corruption: (1) the nature of the corrupt act; (2) the necessity of the agreement; (3) the relevance of the timing of the payment; and (4) the type, value, and recipient of the gain Finally, I establish criteria to distinguish police corruption from other forms of police misconduct A Definition of Police Corruption One approach to defining corruption is a rule-based definition... trying to report police corruption to the very same police agencies riddled with corruption Why bother? In such agencies, there are only slim chances that justice would be done In fact, police officers may retaliate against those who report Police corruption also remains an invisible crime because police agencies themselves may be uninterested in pursuing corruption proactively or investigating existing... officers), the act should not be classified as police corruption, even though it was committed in the jurisdiction of their police agency Agreement Although the agreement between the citizen and the police officer may be an important factor in corruption control, it is not a necessary element of police corruption The agreement itself can be explicit or implicit (a police officer knows or should have known that . Making David S. Tanenhaus Fallen Blue Knights: Controlling Police Corruption Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovic´ FALLEN BLUE KNIGHTS Controlling Police Corruption SANJA KUTNJAK IVKOVIC ´ 1 2005 3 Oxford University. her book. Contents 1 Police Corruption and Its Control 3 2 Defining Police Corruption 15 3 Measuring Police Corruption 33 4 Causes and Correlates of Police Corruption 63 5 Corruption Control: Detection,. Discipline 97 6 Corruption Control: Other Functions 135 7 A Step Ahead: A Multifaceted System of Comprehensive Corruption Control 179 References 217 Index 229 FALLEN BLUE KNIGHTS 1 Police Corruption