The Promotion of Police Integrity

AuthorBruce Swanton
Date01 July 1986
Published date01 July 1986
DOI10.1177/0032258X8605900303
Subject MatterArticle
BRUCE
SWANTON,
Visiting Fellow. Australian Institute
of
Criminology Centre
for
Studies In Justice. *
THE
PROMOTION
OF
POLICE
INTEGRITY
Police integrity has been cause for concern in many English
speaking countries during recent decades. This broad observation
does not imply all police officers or even agencies have (or have
had) an integrity problem.
Far
from it, but at different times in
differing locations, substantial public concern on the subject has
undeniably been expressed. Governments have demonstrated their
concern with such expressions by either instituting themselves, or
demanding from police administrators, inquiries of various kinds.
Some inquiries, both in and out of house, addressed complaints of
malpractice (e.g., Beach, 1978;Clarkson, 1976;Kaye, 1971;Knapp,
1973; Lynch, 1984; McDonald, 1979; McNee, 1983; Morand, 1976;
Perrignon, 1982; Taylor, 1980; Williams, 1980a), whereas others
have looked at ways and means of reforming police procedures and
structures following fears of police wrongdoing (e.g., Lucas, 1977;
Lusher, 1981; St. Johnston, 1971; Willink, 1962). Other inquiries
have looked at various aspects of criminal activity, including police
linkages. Some such inquiries clearly revealed unsatisfactory levels
of integrity obtaining in certain police agencies (e.g., Costigan,
1984; Kefauver, 1951; Moffitt, 1974; Williams, 1980b).
Malpractice by police officers has two important consequences
for police operations. First, operations are directly impaired by
dishonest or negligent behaviour. Secondly, public opinion of
police generally suffers when such behaviour becomes known or
suspected, with the result
that
community support for police
suffers. The importance of citizen support to effective policing is
well recognized (e.g., Heffernan, 1982; Lambert, 1970; McEvoy,
1976; Niederhoffer and Smith, 1974).
Police administrators thus have two compelling and practical
reasons for ensuring high levels of officer integrity in their
respective agencies. One well reported example of an attempt to
raise integrity levels is
that
of New York City Police in tue wake of
the Knapp Commission report (1973) in the early seventies. Then
Police Commissioner
Pat
Murphy "Instituted policies, procedures,
programmes and a system of accountability designed to identify
members of the department involved in corrupt activities (Doucet,
1977:
72)". In addition to trying to enforce employee compliance
with the department's discipline rules, efforts were made also to
·Views expressed are personal to the author.
208 Julv /986

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT