NCJ Number
143128
Journal
Criminal Justice Ethics Dated: (Summer-Fall 1990) Pages: 24-42
Date Published
1990
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Survey information from 177 patrol officers in 11 police agencies in small to medium-sized cities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont gathered information regarding police attitudes with respect to three ethical dimensions and regarding the effects of differences in alienation and concerns for infringements of their authority affects these attitudes.
Abstract
The study distinguished between external and internal sources of alienation and between opposition to internally and to externally imposed control. Data were gathered by means of anonymous and confidential questionnaires distributed by the researcher or the shift supervisor during roll call to nearly all patrol officers during a 24-hour period. The questionnaires asked respondents to indicate whether they viewed a specific type of misconduct as deviant enough to violate the "code of silence" among police officers. The response rate was approximately 75 percent. The participants were mostly male (95 percent), all white, and averaged 34.25 years of age. Results indicated that continued police alienation from the public undermines the service ideal underlying a professional code of ethics. Findings suggested that improving trust between the police and the public rather than reducing police solidarity might lead to less tolerance of police misconduct by other officers but not to greater accountability in using expedient and questionable means to control crime. Tables and 100 reference notes