NCJ Number
144539
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Based upon an analysis of the relevant literature, this paper develops a typology of police deviance.
Abstract
The proposed typology of police deviance has two components: occupational deviance and abuse of authority. "Occupational deviance" is the "deviant behavior -- criminal and noncriminal -- committed during the course of normal work activities or committed under the guise of the police officer's authority." Police occupational deviance is manifested in "police corruption" and "police misconduct," both of which apply to the officer's role as an employee rather than to policing practice per se. Police misconduct involves violations of formally written normative rules, traditional operating procedures, regulations and procedures of both the police and other public service agencies, and the criminal and civil laws. Police corruption is any forbidden act that involves the misuse of the officer's official position for actual or expected material reward or gain. The second element in the typology, "abuse of authority," can be defined as any action by a police officer -- without regard to motive, intent, or malice -- that tends to injure, insult, trespass upon human dignity, manifest feelings of inferiority, or violate an inherent legal right of a member of the police constituency in the course of performing "police work." Abuse of authority involves three areas of police deviance: physical abuse, psychological abuse, and legal abuse. The paper concludes with a discussion of the distinction between occupational deviance and abuse of authority. 1 figure, 11 references, and 5 study questions