Police Culture, Women Police and Attitudes towards Misconduct

AuthorAvril Alley,Andrew Ede,Linda Waugh
DOI10.1177/146135579800100307
Date01 December 1998
Published date01 December 1998
Subject MatterTheoretical Review Paper
International Journal of Police Science &Management Volume 1 Number 3
Police culture, women police and
attitudes towards misconduct
Linda Waugh, Andrew Ede and Avril Alley
Criminal Justice Commission, Queensland, Australia
Accepted:
30th March, 1998
InternationalJournal ofPolice
Science and Management,
Vol. I
No.3,
1998,pp. 288-300.
©Henry
Stewart Publications,
1461-3557
Page 288
Linda Waugh, Avril Alley
and
Andrew
Ede
are Research Officers in the Research Divi-
sion
of
the Criminal Justice Commission,
Queensland, Australia. The Commission was
established by an
Act
of
Parliament to
investigate corruption
and
misconduct
in the
public
sector
and
the Queensland Police
Service,
and
to promote reform within the
criminal justice system. The authors
would
like to acknowledge the assistance
of
the
Queensland Police Service in the data collec-
tion
and
Dr David Brereton
for
the assistance
provided in the writing
of
this paper.
ABSTRACT
It is Jrequently
asserted
that Jemale
police
cifficers
are
less
likely than their male
counter-
parts to
engage
in
misconduct
or to
approve
oj
such
behaviour by Jellow cfficer; This paper
assesses
the extent to which such assumptions
hold true in the
case
oj
Queensland
police.
The
paper
draws
upon
three
sources
oj
data: at-
titudinal surveys administered to
serving
police
officers,
police-initiated
complaints,
and public
complaints against
police.
Attitudinal data
showedJew
differences
between
male andJemale
police
officers
in their views
oj
ethical
conduct
and the stated willingness to
report
a Jellow
officer
known to have behaved
inappropriately.
In addition,Jemale
recruits
were
Jound to be as
likely as males to modify their views
once
they
have spent some time 'in the field'. Attitudinal
results
were
supported by the finding that,
regardless
oj
gender,
only a small number
oj
cifficers
below the rank
if
Sergeant
were
willing
to initiate complaints
oj
misconduct
against a
Jellow
police
officer.
Complaints against
police
data showed male
cifficers
were
more
likely than
Jemale
officers
to
attract
complaints,
in par-
ticular,
complaints oj assault. Overall, the
findings question the argument that Jemale
cifficers
are
inherently
'more
ethical' in their
outlook or that they
are
more
willing to
report
misconduct
than their male
counterparts.
While
Jemale
police
officers
may not be inherently
more
ethical,
their employment has some im-
portant organisational
advantages,
such
as ena-
bling a
reduction
in
complaints,
particularly
those
relating
to the use
oj
Jorce,
and a
reinJorcement
if
the
principles
if
community
policing.
INTRODUCTION
The
introduction
of
women
into
policing
has
been
met
with
resistance (Bell,
1982),
although
recent
years
have
seen
significant
advancements.
The
impact
of
women
on
policing
has
been
of
particular
interest
in
the
research
literature
with
some
emphasis
on
gender
differences
in
integrity
and
ethics.
The
ethical
conduct
of
police
officers is
important
to
the
police
or-
ganisation
-
how
police
behave
is a
crucial
determinant
of
the
level
of
con-
fidence
and
respect
held
by
the
public
for
its
police
service.
The
encouragement
of
high
ethical
standards
can
also
directly
benefit
the
police
service
in
terms
of
a
reduction
in
the
amount
of
time
and
resources
spent
on
processing
and
in-
vestigating
complaints.
Studies
examining
gender
differences
in
integrity
and
ethics

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