PATTERNS IN POLICE MISCONDUCT - CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE POLICE

• NCJ Number: 65272
• Author(s): A E WAGNER
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 201 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: SPECIAL PRICES FOR ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Annotation

THIS THESIS CONCENTRATES ON THE PATTERNS AND RELATIONSHIPS EXHIBITED BY CITIZEN COMPLAINTS OF POLICE MISCONDUCT BY EXAMINING THE SUBJECT MATTER OF SUCH COMPLAINTS.

Abstract

BACKGROUND IS PROVIDED WITH A DISCUSSION OF HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES, THE POLICE ROLE AND IMAGE, POLICE STRESS, THE ADVERSARIAL ROLES OF THE POLICE AND THE PUBLIC, THE MYTHOLOGY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND A SURVEY OF PREVIOUS STUDIES IN POLICE MISCONDUCT. A TOTAL OF 583 SEPARATE ALLEGATIONS OF POLICE MISCONDUCT FILED AGAINST CITY POLICE OFFICERS IN 1971 AND 1973 WERE READ AND PERTINENT INFORMATION EXTRACTED; IDENTIFYING NUMBERS WERE USED TO NOTE THOSE CASES WHICH HAD MULTIPLE COMPLAINANTS. OF THE 583 COMPLAINTS STUDIED, 36 PERCENT WERE ALLEGATIONS OF PHYSICAL ABUSES, 5 PERCENT WERE VERBAL ABUSES, AND 59 PERCENT WERE MISCELLANEOUS. A WORKSHEET WAS DESIGNED TO GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE OFFICERS AGAINST WHOM COMPLAINTS WERE LODGED, THE CITIZEN COMPLAINANT, AND THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABLES. A TOTAL OF 34 FACTORS WERE SELECTED FOR COMPUTER ANALYSIS: 16 FOR POLICE OFFICERS, 9 FOR COMPLAINANTS, 7 RELATIVE TO TIME AND SPACE, AND 2 FOR PURPOSES OF CASE IDENTIFICATION. THE 25 VARIABLES FOR POLICE OFFICERS AND COMPLAINANTS WERE CHOSEN TO 'IDENTIFY' BOTH THE OFFICERS TARGETED FOR COMPLAINTS AND THE COMPLAINANTS THEMSELVES TO COMPARE (1) THE POLICE OFFICERS WITH THE DEPARTMENT'S POPULATION, (2) THE COMPLAINANTS WITH THE GENERAL POPULATION OF THE CITY, AND (3) THE DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POLICE WITH THE COMPLAINANT. CORRELATIONAL TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO COMPARE THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR MILIEU. FINDINGS INDICATE THAT POLICE OFFICERS ACCUSED OF MISCONDUCT ARE SELDOM DISCIPLINED SINCE FEW CASES ARE SUBSTANTIATED AND RARELY DIFFER FROM ANY OTHER OFFICER; OFFICERS IN TWO-MAN CARS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BECOME INVOLVED IN A COMPLAINT THAN AN OFFICER IN A ONE-MAN CAR; YOUNG, SINGLE, BLACK MALES BEAR THE BURDEN OF MOST POLICE MISCONDUCT; AND OTHER CONCLUSIONS. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CITIZENS AND THE POLICE ARE IDENTIFIED, AND PROFILES OF COMPLAINANTS, POLICE OFFICERS, AND THE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL CONSIDERATIONS ARE CONSTRUCTED. STATISTICAL DATA AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED, AND FOOTNOTES ACCOMPANY EACH CHAPTER. (WJR)