Citizen Complaints Against the Police - The Accused Officer

• NCJ Number: 75320
• Journal: Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1980) Pages: 373-377
• Author(s): A E Wagner
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper examines the characteristics of police officers working in an anonymous city who had been accused of misconduct.

Abstract

Data were gathered from 583 closed case files resulting from 640 complaints filed against 827 officers in 1971 and 1973 in 'Metro City.' Eleven variables pertaining to the officers at the time of the complaints were compiled: rank, assignment, race, sex, age, length of service, amount of training, amount of formal education, height, radio status, and mobilization. Frequency distributions were computed for each. The results showed that in general, a 'typical' police officer against whom complaints were filed could not be distinguished. Patrol officers and probationary patrol officers were the recipients of most complaints, but also constituted over 80 percent of the force and were the most visible and the most often contacted. White officers, who were the objects of complaints in 85 percent of the cases, accounted for about 80 percent of the force. Male officers, making up 99.9 percent of the force, were complained against in proportion to that percentage. The younger officers (21 to 29 years) had 68.5 percent of the complaints, a reflection of the fact that these same officers dominate the force. Furthermore, the amount of basic police training was not a factor, nor was an officer's height. Officers in two-man cars were involved in 15.7 percent more citizen complaints than officers in any other type of assignment; however, the reason for this could not be determined. Finally, officers encountering onview situations -- not involving citizens' calls for service -- were more liable to receive complaints than those who responded to radio dispatches, probably because such encounters do not result from citizen invitations and sometimes occur in front of the suspects' family and neighbors. Data tables and footnotes are included.