Police officer integrity: a partial replication and extension

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to partially replicate and extend the work of Klockars et al. and others on police integrity by examining how individual, organizational, and ecological factors affect police supervisors’ perceptions of police misconduct and willingness to report fellow officers’ misconduct.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys containing 17 scenarios developed by Klockars et al. (2000, 2004, 2006) were administered to 553 ranking officers attending training at the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas from June 1, 2009 to March 1, 2010 and employed by municipal police departments, county sheriff’s departments, and constable agencies.

Findings

Results suggest that individual and organizational factors affect supervisor willingness to blow the whistle on underling misconduct, although their effects varied by seriousness of the behavior.

Originality/value

The current project partially replicates and extends prior studies of factors affecting police integrity by surveying supervisors, measuring their willingness to whistle blow, and including variables in statistical models that prior studies have not included.

Citation

Lim, H. and Sloan, J.J. (2016), "Police officer integrity: a partial replication and extension", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 284-301. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-10-2015-0127