Corrupt police networks: uncovering hidden relationship patterns, functions and roles

Abstract

This paper applies social network analysis techniques to a case study of police corruption in order to produce findings that will assist in corruption prevention and investigation. Police corruption is commonly studied, but rarely are sophisticated tools of analyses engaged to add rigour to the field of study. This paper analyses the 'First Joke', a systemic and long-lasting corruption network in the Queensland Police Force, a state police agency in Australia. It uses the data obtained from a commission of inquiry that exposed the network, and develops hypotheses as to the nature of the networks structure based on existing literature into dark networks and criminal networks. These hypotheses are tested by entering the data into UCINET and analysing the outcomes through social network analysis measures of average path distance, centrality and density. The conclusions reached show that the network has characteristics not predicted by the literature.

Exploring Causes of Bribery: A Case Study in a Public Organization in Malaysia

“…Therefore it is evident that police officers are not the only people involved in deviant activity but the public is also a cause of it. Bribery exists due to corrupt network provided by a country (Lauchs, Keast and Yousefpour, 2011). (Albert Bandura, 1986) Researchers have used social cognitive theory as a foundation in explaining misbehavior among employees at various organizations.…”

Dark networks : criminal collaboration in Australian police forces

“…Whistleblowing often results in the resignation of officers or forces officers to change careers because they are no longer a trusted member of the policing community (Wood, 1995). Thus, the opaque nature of these networks, coupled with the norms that support hidden goals and agendas, and the reluctance to identify corrupt behaviour among other officers, not only provide a firm foundation for corruption to flourish (Granovetter, 1973;Lauchs, Keast, & Yousefpour, 2011) but also make it extremely hard to uncover this type of behaviour.…”

“…However, when police corruption is uncovered it does not reveal a few bad apples, but instead shows that corrupt officers often work together with other like-minded officers 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.…”

“…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).…”