A Typology of Police Corruption

Roebuck, Julian B.; Barker, Thomas H.

doi:10.1525/sp.1974.21.3.03a00100

Cited by 40 publications

(42 citation statements)

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“…accepting a free coffee) to direct criminal activities (e.g. crimes against a person or property for personal gain) (Roebuck & Barker, 1974). 'Police misconduct' is another term that is often interchanged with police corruption; this occurs when an officer's conduct is "disgraceful, improper or unbecoming … or shows unfitness to be or continue as a police officer, or does not meet the standard the community reasonably expects of a police officer" (CCC, 2015).…”

Section: Impact and Challenges Of Police Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Aultman (1976) defines police corruption as "a mode of behaviour that is chosen because it will lead to money or other personally desirable rewards, and that involved a misuse of the authority of a police officer's occupational role" (p.324). Roebuck and Barker (1974) outline that police corruption is "any type of proscribed behavior engaged in by a law enforcement officer who receives or expects to receive, by virtue of his official position, an actual or potential unauthorized material reward or gain" (p. 118). Punch (2009) defines police corruption in a narrower sense as "an officer knowingly doing or not doing something that is against his or her duty for some form of financial or material gain or promise of such gains" (p.18).…”

Section: What Is Police Corruption?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Roebuck and Barker's (1974) paper, 'A topology of police corruption', is one of the most widely cited typologies of police corruption. Their typology analyses police corruption along five dimensions: (1) acts and actors involved, (2) norms violated, (3) support from peer group, (4) organisational degree of deviant practices and (5) police department's reaction (Roebuck & Barker, 1974, p. 427).…”

Section: Police Corruption Typologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Source: Created from Roebuck and Barker (1974). Punch (1985Punch ( , 2009) suggests a ninth category of police corruption: flaking or padding.…”

Section: Internal Payoffsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As argued by Punch, this is particularly evident in drug cases. Additionally, Roebuck and Barker (1974) note that officers can display a number of behaviours which will result in the officer falling into numerous categories.…”

Section: Internal Payoffsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dark networks : criminal collaboration in Australian police forces

Merrington¹

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Police corruption networks, hidden within the police organisation, rely on a core set of relationships reinforced by an embedded police culture of exclusivity and silence. The opaque nature of these networks, coupled with the norms that support the hidden goals and agendas of corrupt police officers, provides a firm foundation for corruption to prosper and flourish.Previous research has demonstrated that police corruption cannot be explained by a few 'bad apples', instead prior studies show that corrupt police officers collaborate and collude together to operate effectively and remain hidden within the broader police organisation (Fitzgerald, 1989;Lauchs, Keast, & Chamberlain, 2012;Lauchs, Keast, & Le, 2011;Lauchs, Keast, & Yousefpour, 2011;Wood, 1997). Additionally, more recent studies have demonstrated that corrupt officers operate within a network structure (i.e., an established pattern of relationships and exchanges), which allows officers to gain access to new resources, capabilities, opportunities and connections not readily available if these officers engaged in corrupt behaviour in isolation Lauchs, Keast, & Yousefpour, 2011;Lauchs & Staines, 2012). As a consequence of this collaboration, secrecy, loyalty, trust and reputation are significant elements that bond officers together, allowing them to operate covertly. Accordingly, because of this gap in the literature, the current research aimed to investigate why police officers engage in corruption, the role of trust in facilitating and bonding officers together to allow them to participate in large-scale or serious corruption, and the network structures that result from these relationships.Given the intent of the study is to investigate the complexities and characteristics of police corruption, a single embedded case study design was chosen to present a unique and focused investigation around this phenomenon. Documentary and social network analysis were used to examine the structures of these networks, as well as to provide an in-depth investigation of the factors that aid the operation of these police corruption networks. The overall findings of the study reveal that officers collaborated and operated under a network structure reinforced by a subculture of unwritten rules, codes and acceptance by senior officers. This network was found to be dynamic, shifting in structure, membership and activity, but remained highly clustered and cohesive around a few core actors in the network. Additionally, the corruption network operated on relationships based on collaborations of trust. Officers used trustworthiness attributes, personal experience and third party information to assess whether a fellow officer was trustworthy enough to be a member of the corruption network, which resulted in a 3 'pipeline' of trust. This pipeline of trust was essential for the development and daily functioning of the network, because it allowed members involved to operate with more confidence knowing that fellow members could be trusted to keep the corrupt activities hidden.A...

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Section: Impact and Challenges Of Police Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%