Louise E. Porter and Martine Powell
This study aims to understand the factors that are perceived to influence the completeness and accuracy of officers’ accounts of an officer-involved shooting (OIS).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the factors that are perceived to influence the completeness and accuracy of officers’ accounts of an officer-involved shooting (OIS).
Design/methodology/approach
Research interviews were conducted with 13 Australian police officers who had been involved in a shooting and subsequently undergone an investigative interview by their agency’s internal investigators. The authors integrated the officers' experiences of, and perspectives on, these investigative interviews using inductive thematic analysis.
Findings
Officers’ accounts of a shooting relied not just on their memory but their engagement and ability to provide their account. This was influenced by their psychological state as well as the interview process. Interview timing was relevant. However, it was not necessarily the length of time to wait, but the treatment experienced during that time that had the most impact, not only on officers’ satisfaction with the process but also on the quality of information provided. Officers felt they performed best when supported, and demonstrations of procedural and informational justice were key.
Practical implications
Knowledge of the factors that affect officers’ ability to provide accounts of stressful events can contribute to policies that recognise individual-level needs and ensure fair treatment of subject officers.
Originality/value
While prior research has recognised OISs as traumatic events with long-term impacts on officer wellbeing, far less is known about the immediate aftermath of a shooting with respect to the needs of the officer and how this might impact the interview process. By drawing on the insights of officers with direct experience, this study adds to the evidence for best-practice interviewing of officers after a shooting.
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Tim Prenzler, Tyler Cawthray, Louise E. Porter and Geoffrey P. Alpert
From 2002 to 2014, the Portland Police Bureau reported large reductions in complaints against officers and use of force indicators. The purpose of this paper is to develop a case…
Abstract
Purpose
From 2002 to 2014, the Portland Police Bureau reported large reductions in complaints against officers and use of force indicators. The purpose of this paper is to develop a case study to document these changes and explore possible influences.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper maps the changes in conduct indicators against the developing relationship between the Bureau and the Portland Independent Police Review Division, and changes in policies and procedures.
Findings
Public complaints reduced by 54.4 per cent, while the rate of specific allegations per officer fell by 70.1 per cent. Quarterly use of force incident reports were reduced by 65.4 per cent between 2008 and 2014. Annual average shootings decreased from a high of nine per year across 1997-2002 to just below four per year in 2009-2014. Fatal shootings also trended downward but remained two per year in the last three years on record. Reforms instituted during this period that may have influenced these trends include a more rigorous complaints process, an early intervention system (EIS), enhanced external and internal review mechanisms, policy changes and training initiatives.
Research limitations/implications
The researchers were unable to control for a range of additional variables that may have influenced the findings, including police deployments and changes in officer demographics.
Practical implications
The study provides support for strategies to improve police conduct including external oversight, diagnostic research, training focussed on de-escalation and minimal force, and complaint profiling and EISs.
Originality/value
There are very few studies available showing large long-term reductions in adverse police conduct indicators.
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Kelly Amy Hine, Louise E. Porter and Janet Ransley
This paper explores the applicability of environmental theories to understanding patterns of police misconduct. In turn, it aims to offer a method for identifying prevention…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the applicability of environmental theories to understanding patterns of police misconduct. In turn, it aims to offer a method for identifying prevention techniques that can be practically applied by policing agencies.
Design/methodology/approach
The study empirically examined 84 substantiated matters of police misconduct in Queensland, Australia. The matters were content-analysed for elements of the first level of the crime triangle. These elements were then analysed to identify their relationships with the situational precipitators that initiated the misconduct; proactive misconduct and situational misconduct.
Findings
The two types of initiating misconduct had differing relationships with the crime triangle elements. Therefore, specific prevention techniques can be tailored by policing agencies to address and prevent each type of misconduct more successfully. The paper discusses these findings in terms of preventative measures according to the second preventative level of the crime triangle and situational crime prevention techniques.
Originality/value
This paper provides an alternative approach to understanding and preventing police misconduct by exploring the applicability of environmental theories. It finds that environmental theories offer a feasible approach for policing agencies to understand and tailor prevention of police misconduct in their jurisdictions.
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Sanja Kutnjak Ivković, Maria Haberfeld, Wook Kang, Robert Patrick Peacock, Louise E. Porter, Tim Prenzler and Adri Sauerman
The purpose of this paper is to explore the contours of the police code of silence, a critical component of the ability to control misconduct and enhance integrity within any…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the contours of the police code of silence, a critical component of the ability to control misconduct and enhance integrity within any police agency. Unlike the extant research, dominated by single-country studies, this paper provides an in-depth exploration of the code across five countries and tests the relation between the code of science and societal characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
A police integrity survey was used to measure the contours of the code of silence among police officers in Australia (n=856), Croatia (n=966), South Africa (n=871), South Korea (n=379) and the USA (n=664). The respondents evaluated 11 hypothetical scenarios describing various forms of police misconduct.
Findings
Bivariate analyses reveal considerable divergence in the code of silence across the five countries. Multivariate models of the code of silence show that, next to organizational factors (i.e. the respondents’ assessment of peers’ willingness to report, evaluations of misconduct seriousness and expected discipline) and individual factors (i.e. supervisory status), societal factors (i.e. the Corruption Perceptions Index score and the percent of irreligious citizens) are significant predictors of the respondents’ willingness to report.
Research limitations/implications
While the same questionnaire was used in all five countries, the nature of the data collection differed somewhat across the countries (e.g. online survey vs paper-and-pencil survey), as did the nature of the samples (e.g. representative sample vs convenience sample).
Practical implications
Perceived peer pressure, measured as the perceptions of whether other police officers would adhere to the code of silence, is the key variable explaining the police officers’ expressed willingness to adhere to the code of silence. Changing the police officers’ perceptions of peer culture and potentially changing the peer culture itself should be critical elements in the toolbox of any administrator willing to curtail the code of silence.
Originality/value
Whereas the study of the code of silence has started several decades ago, no prior study has tested the effects of organizational and societal variables on the code of silence in a comparative perspective.
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Molly Miranda McCarthy, Louise E. Porter, Michael Townsley and Geoffrey P. Alpert
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether community-oriented policing (COP) influences rates of police use of force across communities, and whether the impact of COP varies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether community-oriented policing (COP) influences rates of police use of force across communities, and whether the impact of COP varies according to the level of violent crime in communities.
Design/methodology/approach
A range of data sources including police use of force reports, online surveys of Officers-in-Charge and recorded crime data was used to examine the association between formal and informal community consultation and the frequency of police use of force, across 64 socially challenged communities in Australia.
Findings
Poisson multilevel modelling indicated no overall association between informal or formal community engagement and rates of police use of force. However, significant interaction terms for both informal and formal community consultation with violent crime rates indicated that higher levels of informal and formal community consultation were associated with lower rates of police use of force in communities with higher levels of violent crime. This relationship was not evident in low violent crime areas.
Research limitations/implications
Communities were purposively sampled to have a high propensity for police use of force, on the basis that they had high rates of violent crime, or high levels of socio-economic disadvantage, or both. This research should be replicated with a representative sample of communities.
Practical implications
The findings extend the potential benefits of COP to reducing the use of coercive policing tactics in high violent crime communities.
Originality/value
This study finds that COP can reduce the frequency of violent encounters between police and community members in high violent crime communities.
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Louise E Porter and Tim Prenzler
The purpose of this paper is to explore Australian police officers’ perceptions of unethical conduct scenarios with the aim of understanding unwillingness to report infractions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore Australian police officers’ perceptions of unethical conduct scenarios with the aim of understanding unwillingness to report infractions.
Design/methodology/approach
The responses of 845 officers were compared across 11 scenarios to explore variation in the extent to which they understood the behaviour to violate policy and their hypothetical willingness, or unwillingness, to report the behaviour. Particularly, it was hypothesised that non-reporters may justify their inaction based on the misperception that other officers hold even less ethical beliefs.
Findings
Five scenarios emerged as least likely to be reported, with a substantial minority of officers stating their decision was despite their understanding that the behaviour constituted a policy violation. Contrary to predictions, these “non-reporters” were aware they were less likely to report than their colleagues, but believed they held the same views as their colleagues in terms of the seriousness of scenarios. Comparisons between non-reporters and other survey participants, however, found this belief to be false, with non-reporters viewing the scenarios as significantly less serious. A perceived self-other difference, along with a belief that others will report were shown to reduce the likelihood of not reporting.
Practical implications
The results are discussed in terms of increasing willingness to report misconduct through organisational efforts to communicate values and support officers to make ethical decisions.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to understanding the “code of silence” in perpetuating police misconduct and how it may be reduced.