NCJ Number
192294
Editor(s)
Kim M. Lersch
Date Published
2002
Length
256 pages
Annotation
This collection of essays on police misconduct has major sections on foundations for the study of police misconduct, varieties of police misconduct, and the prevention and control of police misconduct.
Abstract
The two chapters on the foundations for the study of police misconduct provide a historically grounded overview of the variety of forms of police misconduct, as well as a critically oriented history of the growth, development, and changing role of the police in the United States. Part II of the book contains four chapters that describe a diverse range of acts of police deviance, with emphasis on areas that have not received much attention by researchers. One chapter explores the issue of drug-related police corruption, and another chapter presents an overview of the current state of social scientific knowledge about the use and abuse of force by the police. A chapter on police sexual violence presents findings from a content analysis of a large sample of newspaper articles on such police misconduct. The fourth chapter in Part II of the book reviews studies that have compared police misconduct by male and female police officers; attention is given to the divergent roles and policing styles of male and female officers. Part III is composed of four chapters on the prevention and control of police misconduct. One chapter considers issues that must be addressed in using officer drug testing as a means of curbing drug use by police officers and the risk of attendant consequences for officer performance. Another chapter examines the risks for police misconduct posed by the structure and management style characteristic of community policing; it suggests ways to prevent such corruption. A third chapter describes and assesses the use of Early Warning Systems for detecting and remedying police misconduct. The final chapter synthesizes the contributions of the authors and discusses the proposed solutions to police misconduct. Chapter references and tables