NCJ Number
174127
Date Published
1996
Length
90 pages
Annotation
Individual and organizational influences on ethical and unethical behavior was assessed among police officers in Australia.
Abstract
The study's major aim was to obtain empirical data that would support specific recommendations about practical ethics in the Police Service. A large-scale survey was conducted of police officers in South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales; there were 4,655 respondents. The survey questionnaire had eight sections that asked about training in ethics, breaches of ethics, improving practical ethics, commitment to the Police Service, job satisfaction, perceptions of ethical dilemmas, and reactions to ethical dilemmas. It also obtained demographic information and invited qualitative comment about practical ethics in the Police Service. Recommendations relate to eight policy areas. These concern definition and determination, selection and training, satisfaction and commitment, supervision and development, responsibility and accountability, reward and punishment, and the Police Service and the community. Overall, the report argues that a belief in the need for change, a commitment to achieve change, and a strategy to ensure change are all needed to address particular matters concerning practical ethics in the Police Service. Matters of particular concern are the organized hypocrisy of the system in which officers work, the lack of effective supervision, the apparent lack of support for good behavior by officers, and the view that honesty is not part of the Police Service as a whole. 21 references and appended questionnaire