Managing Police Corruption

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1978.

Police oversight agencies are citizens' watchdog organizations designed to ensure that the police are operating with integrity and accountability. Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and morally upright. Accountability refers to situations in which someone is required or expected to justify actions or decisions. Based on integrity and accountability challenges in police forces all over the world, this book discusses the roles and methods of police oversight agencies. Knowledge management in police oversight is presented by identifying knowledge categories and knowledge management systems. A model for police oversight performance is developed in the book, and the model is applied to an oversight agency as a case study.

While many police officers undertake their work conforming to the highest ethical standards, the fact remains that unethical police conduct continues to be a recurring problem around the world. With examples from a range of jurisdictions, Police Corruption: Preventing Misconduct and Maintaining Integrity examines the causes of police misconduct and

In the past two decades, Australia has been the site of major police misconduct scandals and inquiries, leading to reform initiatives at the cutting edge of police integrity management practices. Presenting interviews with key informants and an analysis of key documents, Police Integrity Management in Australia: Global Lessons for Combating Police Misconduct offers a comprehensive study, conducted from 2008 to 2010, of strategies and systems in Australia. Providing a rare overview and critique of a full suite of policies, institutions, and programs adopted to combat misconduct in policing, this volume: Outlines the global problem of police misconduct and its effects Summarizes current knowledge about best practices in the field, the reality of corruption in Australia, and the reform agenda that has driven major change and experimentation Presents current integrity strategies in place in Australia, covering the rationales, evidence of effectiveness, and difficulties Explores undercover stings, drug and alcohol testing, mediation of complaints, ethics training, and regulating the police use of force Organized logically for ease of navigation, each chapter contains an "Emerging Issues" section, highlighting some of the more promising and/or innovative integrity strategies as well as looming concerns and ethical issues. The book concludes with an overall evaluation of the data presented in the body of the book, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the Australian system and the implications for adoption of these strategies in other police departments around the world.