NCJ Number
180091
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: 1998 Pages: 57-65
Date Published
1998
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Police corruption is discussed with respect to its nature and incidence, psychiatric conditions that may arise in police officers and also contribute to further corruption, and proposed remedies.
Abstract
Types of corruption include mooching, chiseling, favoritism, prejudice, shoplifting, extortion, accepting bribes, shakedown, perjury, premeditated theft. Other forms of corruption include drinking on the job, having sex with informants and others, carrying unauthorized weapons, sleeping and doing personal chores while on duty, assault, and others. Some female police officers have experienced chronic sexual harassment in station houses. Different studies have indicated varied levels of police corruption. Factors such as the conspiracy of silence, authoritarian supervision, and police discretion contribute to corruption in the closed society of a police agency. Psychiatric conditions that may develop in police officers as a result of stress or other factors include borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality, passive-dependent or inadequate personality, and treatable personalities. Remedies for corruption in law enforcement include trained leaders of integrity, better hiring practices, better pay, longer probation periods for new police officers, better supervision, more attention to the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics adopted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 1989, regular re-evaluation of officers, better complaint evaluation, and better discipline. Society also needs to question what characteristics police of the future will need to combat increasingly hedonistic, vicious, and violent criminals so that policing does not continue to be such a difficult mandate. 16 references (Author abstract modified)