Conflict of interest allegations became a prominent part of the political and public sector in the 1980s and 1990s in Australia and elsewhere. The arena of policing was not immune, and in Victoria, the Ombudsman drew particular attention to the problem and expressed concern about the rise in public complaints relating to alleged conflicts of interest on the part of police officers. Against this background, permission was granted by Victoria Police for a major study of conflict of interest complaints against police officers within their jurisdiction. Access was granted to all public complaint case files where conflict of interest was the focus of the allegations, from the period 1988???1998. A total of 377 usable complaints files were examined, involving 539 police officers. Through extensive examination and analysis of these complaint case files, a comprehensive map of the particular kinds of interest involved, the nature of the conflicts with official police duties, and the particular contexts within which conflicts of interest emerged, was developed. Analysis of the case files identified 25 different types of problems related to conflict of interest. These were spread across the private and public realms of police officers??? involvements. Previous studies of conflict of interest have focused largely on the opportunities for misconduct arising in the public realm of police work and police duty, largely neglecting attention to the private realm of the relationships and involvements of a police officer that give rise to conflicts of interest. In this study, the specific private interests that gave rise to problems were able to be identified in 35 percent of all cases. Three broad problem areas were identified: (i) outside employment, private business interests, political, social, and sporting interests and involvements; (ii) family-based involvements, especially those involving family law problems; and (iii) problematic personal relationships, including relationships with criminals, informers, and persons of ill repute. These conflicts of interest were related to a range of breaches of official police duty, including the misuse of police authority for personal or family benefit, the use of police position to facilitate personal relationships, and inappropriate disclosure of confidential police information. When the conflict of interest identified related specifically to a police officer???s official or public role as a member of the police force, the main types of misconduct identified included three broad areas: (i) the use and abuse of police powers and authority; (ii) the use and abuse of police resources, including information; and (iii) the receipt of gratuities and breaches of the law. These problems were shown to play out in a range of ways, encompassing such behaviours as misuse of the police identity, inappropriate accessing of police information, involvement in investigations where the police officer concerned has a personal interest in the matter, failing to take appropriate police action against friends, family, or associates, the exercise of improper influence in civil matters, and engagement in harassment and discrimination. This study offers some important conceptual developments in relation to the notion of conflict of interest, focusing on the importance of the distinction between a conflict of interest and an associated breach of duty. The study noted that it is often erroneously assumed by police that if there is no breach of duty evidenced, then there is no problem of conflict of interest. The study also offers an important insight into the oversight and accountability processes involved in Victoria Police, emphasising the importance and effectiveness of the oversight role of the office of the Victorian Ombudsman. Evidence also suggests that the internal review processes within Victoria Police are by-and-large stringent, and that senior police management are genuinely interested in making police officers more accountable for their actions. However, it is concluded that both front-line operational police officer and police management often have a limited understanding of conflict of interest, and problems attendant to conflicts of interest. The study???s insights into the problem of conflict of interest are significant insofar as this problem is related to police misconduct???ranging from minor to serious???of various kinds. Attention to the problem of conflict of interest may be an important element in preventing ???upstream??? police misconduct and corruption.

No description available.

Le niveau de violence, tel que mesuré par le taux d’homicide, varie beaucoup d’un pays à l’autre. Dans certains pays, on note un taux de 0,5 par 100,000 habitants tandis que pour d’autres, ce taux se situe autour de 50 par 100,000 habitants. Parmi les facteurs évoqués dans la littérature scientifique pour expliquer cette variation, on retrouve des concepts tels que la pauvreté, les inégalités et d’autres facteurs sociaux, économiques ou démographiques. Or, il y a relativement peu d’études qui examinent le rôle éventuel de la qualité du système de justice sur l’incidence de la violence. La présente étude s’intéresse au rôle de la corruption policière sur les variations du taux d’homicide entre les pays du monde. La corruption se définit comme le fait d’agir contre son devoir. Dans le cadre de l’activité policière, la corruption peut prendre la forme d’abus du pouvoir discrétionnaire, de recours à des moyens illégaux ou d’acceptation de récompenses. Considérant que ces différentes formes de corruption policière ont pour principale conséquence de créer des inégalités, il ne fait peu de doute que ce que font les policiers influence le taux de criminalité d’un endroit donné. Cette étude tente donc de déterminer s’il existe un lien entre le niveau de corruption policière et le niveau de violence, tel que mesuré par le taux d’homicide pour 143 pays. Des analyses statistiques univariées et bivariées sont réalisées afin de déterminer les indicateurs pertinents à inclure dans les différents modèles de régression multiple. Les résultats de nos analyses indiquent qu’une relation relativement forte et significative est retrouvée entre la corruption policière et le taux d’homicide. De plus, les résultats montrent que les inégalités influencent la corruption policière et que ces deux phénomènes influencent à leur tour le taux d’homicide. / The level of violence, as measured by the homicide rates, varies greatly from one country to the other. Some countries have an homicide rate of 0,5 per 100,000 inhabitants, while others are faced with a rate of more than 50 per 100,000 inhabitants. Poverty, inequalities and other social, economic and demographic factors are cited in the literature as explaining this variation. However, there are very few studies that examine the possible influence of the quality of the justice system on violence. The present study examines the role of police corruption on the variations of the homicide rates between countries. Corruption is defined as acting against one’s duty. In the context of policing, corruption can be seen as the abuse of power, the resort to illegal means or the acceptance of rewards or gratuities. Considering these acts have the main consequence of creating inequalities, there is little or no doubt that what the police do has an influence on the crime rate. This study thus attempts to determine wether there is a relation between police corruption and violence, as measured by the homicide rate for 143 countries. Various univariate and bivariate statistical analyses are conducted to determine which relevant indicators should be included in the various multiple regression models. Results indicate that a relatively strong and significant relation is found between police corruption and homicide rate for the countries included in the study. Moreover, results indicate that inequalities influence police corruption and that both, in turn, influence the homicide rate.

There is increasing concern in news media sources regarding police killings of unarmed Black males. However, there is limited research on the portrayal of such incidents in the news and the implications for police-community relations in African- American communities. In order to address this gap, this study analyzed 120 experts’ quotes provided by two of the largest and most respected newspapers in the United States -- the New York Times and USA Today. This research comprised a content analysis of quotes related to the deaths of Eric Garner (Staten Island, New York), Michael Brown (Ferguson, Missouri), and Freddie Gray (Baltimore City, Maryland). A number of factors are discussed: The news organization’s predominate category and specialty of experts selected; whether the experts’ quotes attributed to pro-police or community bias; if the experts’ quotes discussed social or racial inequalities in the cities selected; whether the experts addressed evidence-based strategies necessary to improve police-community relations in the Black community, and whether experts’ quotes discussed solutions to improve police and community relations in the Black community. The findings suggest that the selected national news sources, in the one year following the deaths of each of the unarmed victims, highlighted quotes from state manager, particularly politicians, at a much higher rate than intellectuals. Although revealing a substantial level of procommunity bias, the quotes presented very little regarding evidence-based strategies for improving police-community relations in the Black community and reducing the number of unarmed deaths caused by police. The implications for research on media and crime as well as policing strategies are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The reform measures recommended by the Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct (referred to as the "Fitzgerald Inquiry") radically transformed the face of policing in Queensland. The most significant of these recommendations was the establishment of an external oversight body, the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC), which has independence from executive government and holds the power to investigate not only police but any public servant or politician. Other recommendations included "Whistleblower" legislation, increasing sanctions for serious misconduct, lateral recruitment and promotion by merit rather than seniority. The first main research question tested in this thesis is whether these reform measures have produced improvements in the following areas: the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes for dealing with complaints against police; public confidence in those processes and the public standing of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) generally; standards of police behaviour; the incidence of corrupt conduct; and police attitudes towards reporting misconduct by their fellow officers. These Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms were strategies primarily derived from two schools of thought describing the nature and cause of police corruption: deterrence based theory (including "individual" or "rotten apple" theory) and cultural (also labeled "cultural" or "socialisation") based theory. To date most strategies used to combat police corruption have been underpinned by these theories. A third theory - situational based theory (sometimes titled "environmental" or "opportunity" theory) - which has had success in crime prevention, has been scarcely used in the area of police corruption. However, an extensive body of research has affirmed the effects of situational factors on police behaviour, suggesting the potential for the application of situational crime prevention initiatives in combatting police corruption. The second research question proposed in this thesis is whether situational based theory could also be beneficial in the prevention of police corruption. Data drawn upon to test the first research question were interviews and surveys with police officers, public attitude surveys and statistics from the processing of complaints against police. Although each source has limitations, collectively the data are sufficiently comprehensive - and robust - to defend conclusions about the general direction of the changes which have occurred. These data indicate that the Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms have, at least to some degree, had their intended impact on the QPS. These reforms have contributed to an apparent improvement in public confidence in the complaints system and the QPS generally. Moreover, the available evidence suggests that the Fitzgerald Inquiry reforms have resulted in a weakening of the police code of silence. As far as the specific issue of corruption in the QPS is concerned, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from existing data sources. However, the weight of the available evidence is that such conduct is less pervasive and occurs at lower levels than was the case in the pre-Fitzgerald Inquiry QPS. It is very difficult to ascertain which reform components were the most effective and which were not helpful at all, as these reform measures were initiated simultaneously. For example, the negative elements of the police culture may have been eliminated or reduced but whether it was the cultural strategies or one of the deterrence based strategies influencing officer behaviour remains unknown. The second main research question the thesis poses is that the use of situational crime prevention techniques has potential for contributing to the prevention of police corruption. A situational analysis of complaints against police data, including the development of a typology for classifying types of police corruption and misconduct, was used as an example of how this may be accomplished in Queensland. The study provides some, albeit limited, support for the hypothesis that situational crime prevention methods are applicable to police corruption. Based upon three years of complaints data, enough homogenous cases were gathered to enable the analysis of four categories of police corruption - Opportunistic Thefts, Driving under the Influence, Assault (while off-duty), and Theft from Employer. Given that this study only used three years of complaints data held by the CJC and more than nine years of data exist, productive situational analyses of many other categories of corruption is probable. This study also illustrated that complaints against police data are being under utilised by the QPS and the CJC. For future research in the situational analysis of complaints data, I recommend improving the gathering of data from complaints files for storage in electronic form to enable situational prevention analysis to be conducted more readily. A geographical example was used to illustrate further how complaints against police data could be more extensively utilised as a prevention tool. This analysis was conducted at an organisation unit level determined primarily by geographical factors. The complaint patterns of units of similar "task environments", as measured by unit size and type of duties performed, were compared in an attempt to identify those units experiencing the presence or absence of "bad apples" or a "negative culture". This study led to the conclusion that a divisional analysis of complaints data can provide information valuable in combatting police corruption. When task environment was held constant, it was possible to identify units experiencing the effects of possible "bad apples" and/or "negative cultures". Once these particular units were identified, intervention strategies to address the units' particular problem could be constructed. Future research in this area would involve ongoing divisional data analysis followed-up by individual assessment of officers identified as "bad apples", or a "compare-and-contrast" procedure to distinguish features requiring correction in units identified as having a "negative culture". The research findings presented in this thesis are that progress has occurred in a number of areas in addressing the problems identified by the Fitzgerald Inquiry, but that there is undoubtedly scope for more to be achieved. Despite the very significant increase in the resources and powers available to investigators post-Fitzgerald, it is still difficult to prove that a police officer engaged in misconduct, or that other officers were aware of this fact and had failed to take action, because of the constraints imposed by evidentiary and legal requirements. Thus, while it is vital to maintain an effective and credible independent complaints investigation system and ensure that there is a proper internal discipline process in place, the scope for increasing the "deterrent power" of the present system is limited. Putting more resources into complaints investigations might make a difference at the margins, but is unlikely to lead to a significant increase in the probability of a complaint being substantiated and a sanction imposed. Investing more resources in investigations has an additional cost in that such resources are then lost to other efforts to combat corruption that may provide more fruitful results in the long term. The value of an occasional substantiation is placed above the ability to engage in a large amount of prevention work. Inevitably then, three clear messages are apparent. First, continued effort must be made to modify the organisational climate of the QPS in terms of commitment to integrity. Recommended strategies to accomplish this end are to continue the recruitment of more educated, female and older officers to reduce police-citizen conflict and the negative elements of the police culture, and also to develop a comprehensive, integrated approach to ethics education for QPS officers at all ranks and positions. Second, other forms of deterrence against misconduct are needed such as the use of covert strategies like integrity testing which could be conducted in conjunction with the CJC. Third, a greater emphasis needs to be placed on developing and implementing preventive strategies. This thesis has shown that valuable prevention strategies can be gained from situational and divisional analysis of complaints data, and a range of proactive management options based upon situational crime prevention theory are recommended. These strategies have application in any police service.

The primary objective of this research was to study and explain police criminality from a criminological point of view. Police criminality was addressed from a scientific perspective and this was achieved by using scientific measures and procedures including theoretical explanations and recognised research methodology. The secondary objectives included the undertaking of a comprehensive literature study on police criminality in addition to conducting interviews with specialists in order to gain expert information from knowledgeable sources in the field of police criminality. Interviews conducted with police offenders addressed police criminality from the viewpoint of the individual offender. The findings of the empirical study reflect significant individual and organisational factors. The individual factors highlighted characteristics such as power, greed, aggression, feelings of invincibility, gullibility, propensity to criminality and psychological factors including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which contributed to crimes committed by police members. Perhaps the most significant organisational contributors highlighted by this study related to managerial shortcomings. It is evident that police organisations with high levels of untrained, inexperienced and incompetent managers experience high levels of internal criminality. Poor supervision and the lack of corruption controls create an enabling environment for the perpetuation of police deviance. Additional organisational factors that encourage criminality include negative aspects of police culture such as the code of silence, where police members are more apt to protecting corrupt colleagues than reporting them. The lack of discipline gives rise to insubordination and familiarity, which encourages impunity. In the South African Police Service at present, the policy of Affirmative Action is causing widespread dissatisfaction and the lowering of morale amongst certain members. Inadequate recruitment and training do not prepare members adequately for their job and it literally allow the "worm into the apple." The researcher's contribution to this study is an interventionist model, which contains essential recommendations primarily for the benefit of the South African Police Service. These include the expeditious implementation of a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy and the creation of an independent investigation unit. Management shortcomings must be rectified and professionalism encouraged. Recruits need to be thoroughly vetted and ethics and integrity must be included in police training. / Criminology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)

The research entailed an exploration of the reasons behind corruption and related offences in selected Gauteng police stations of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Corruption refers to the illegal and unlawful activities performed by police officials when they enrich themselves by taking money and other valuable property from offenders, victims and other people they come into contact with. The participants in this study were purposefully chosen and comprised of two groups. The first group included ex-police officials convicted and sentenced for committing corruption and related offences. The second group were active police officials suspected to have committed corruption and related crimes and some in this group were dismissed by disciplinary tribunals. The research was done at four of the police stations in Gauteng Province. There were 18 participants interviewed and nine were chosen from these police stations, with the remaining nine from two correctional facilities in Gauteng. The participants were asked an open-ended question which aimed at exploring convicted police officials’ reasons for having committed corruption. The interviews were recorded with the participants’ permission. The recorded data were transcribed verbatim and analysed. The five main themes that emerged are the high incidence of corruption involving all levels of police, multiple environmental factors which contribute to corruption, forms of corruption, dynamics resulting from corruption and anti-corruption mechanisms to prevent corruption. The themes were described using “in vivo” quotes from the transcribed data. To learn other trends about corruption, the nature and extent of corruption in the political, economic and the governmental sphere were discussed. In the summary of the research recommendations and conclusions were provided. A model has been identified which consists of preventative and reactive mechanisms, including selection, recruitment, the code of conduct, supportive leadership, supervision, mentoring and coaching, targeted inspections and auditing. Life style audits, disciplinary measures, dismissals and prosecution in these corruption case hearings also form part of the proposed model. / Corrections Management / D.Litt. et Phil. (Criminal Justice)

The primary objective of this research was to study and explain police criminality from a criminological point of view. Police criminality was addressed from a scientific perspective and this was achieved by using scientific measures and procedures including theoretical explanations and recognised research methodology. The secondary objectives included the undertaking of a comprehensive literature study on police criminality in addition to conducting interviews with specialists in order to gain expert information from knowledgeable sources in the field of police criminality. Interviews conducted with police offenders addressed police criminality from the viewpoint of the individual offender. The findings of the empirical study reflect significant individual and organisational factors. The individual factors highlighted characteristics such as power, greed, aggression, feelings of invincibility, gullibility, propensity to criminality and psychological factors including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which contributed to crimes committed by police members. Perhaps the most significant organisational contributors highlighted by this study related to managerial shortcomings. It is evident that police organisations with high levels of untrained, inexperienced and incompetent managers experience high levels of internal criminality. Poor supervision and the lack of corruption controls create an enabling environment for the perpetuation of police deviance. Additional organisational factors that encourage criminality include negative aspects of police culture such as the code of silence, where police members are more apt to protecting corrupt colleagues than reporting them. The lack of discipline gives rise to insubordination and familiarity, which encourages impunity. In the South African Police Service at present, the policy of Affirmative Action is causing widespread dissatisfaction and the lowering of morale amongst certain members. Inadequate recruitment and training do not prepare members adequately for their job and it literally allow the "worm into the apple." The researcher's contribution to this study is an interventionist model, which contains essential recommendations primarily for the benefit of the South African Police Service. These include the expeditious implementation of a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy and the creation of an independent investigation unit. Management shortcomings must be rectified and professionalism encouraged. Recruits need to be thoroughly vetted and ethics and integrity must be included in police training. / Criminology and Security Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)

The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) is one of the South African institutions with growing levels of corruption. This is despite the presence of several anti-corruption strategies as well as institutions implemented to deal with this epidemic. The ineffectiveness of these strategies and institutions is attributed to, amongst others, the application of ineffective detection methods. The under-detection of corruption in the JMPD is affecting road safety, the economy, and the image of the JMPD itself. It is against this background that the researcher sought to establish how intelligence analysis could add value in detecting corruption in the JMPD. A qualitative research approach was applied to investigate this problem. As such, it has been proven that the use of hotlines and the over-reliance on whistleblowers is less effective in detecting corruption in the JMPD. The results have further shown that intelligence analysis may add value in detecting corruption in the JMPD. / Umnyango wamaphoyisa edolobha elikhulu eGoli (JMPD) ungenye yezikhungo zaseNingizimu Afrika ezithola amazinga akhulayo enkohlakalo. Lokhu kungakhathaliseki ukuthi kukhona amasu amaningi okulwa nenkohlakalo kanye nezikhungo ezisetshenziselwa ukubhekana nesifo sobunkohlakalo. Ukungafezeki kwalawa masu kanye nezikhungo kubhekwa ukuthi, phakathi kwabanye, ukusetshenziswa kwezindlela ezingafenele zokuthola. Ukutholakala kwezinkohlakalo ku-JMPD kuthinta ukuphepha komgwaqo, umnotho nomfanekiso we-JMPD uqobo. Kungokumelene nalesi sizinda ukuthi umcwaningi lufuna ukusungula ukuthi ukuhlaziywa ngobuhlakani kungasiza kanjani ekutholeni inkohlakalo ku-JMPD. Indlela yokucwaninga efanele yasetshenziswa ukuphenya le nkinga. Njengalokhu, kuye kwafakazelwa ukuthi ukusetshenziswa kwama-hotlines nokuxhaswa ngokweqile kwababika ngenkohlakalo akwanele ukuthola inkohlakalo ku-JMPD. Imiphumela ibonise ukuthi ukuhlaziywa kobuhlakani kungasiza ekutholeni inkohlakalo ku-JMPD. / Lefapha la Sephodisa la Teropokgolo ya Johannesburg (JMPD) ke nngwe ya ditheo tsa Aforika Borwa tse di itemogelang maemo a a golang a bobodu. Seno ke kwa ntle ga go nna teng ga ditogamaano tse dingwe tse di kgatlhanong le bobodu ga mmogo le ditheo tse di diragadiwang go samagana le leroborobo la bobodu. Go se nne le nonofo ga ditogamaano tseno le ditheo e amana, mo go tse dingwe, le tiragatso ya mekgwa ya go lemoga go se nne le nonofo. Go nna kwa tlase ga go lemoga bobodu mo go JMPD go ama pabalesego ya tsela, ikonomi le setshwantsho sa JMPD ka boyona. Ke mabapi le lemorago leno gore mmatlisisi o ne a batla go tlhomamisa gore tshetshereganyo ya tsa matlhale e ka thusa mo go lemogeng bobodu mo go JMPD. Boitlhagiso jwa patlisiso ya boleng bo ne jwa diragadiwa go tlhotlhomisa bothata jono. Fa go le jalo, go ne ga netefatswa gore tiriso ya megala ya tlhamalalo e e kgethegileng ya tshoganyetso le go ikaega thata ka batho ba ba tlaleyang ga go a lekana go lemoga bobodu mo go JMPD. Dipholo di bontshitse gape gore tshekatsheko ya tsa matlhale e ka thusa go lemoga bobodu mo go JMPD. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminal Justice)

The word 'marijuana' was introduced to Australia by the US Bureau of Narcotics via the Diggers newspaper, Smith's Weekly, in 1938. Marijuana was said to be 'a new drug that maddens victims' and it was sensationally described as an 'evil sex drug'. The resulting tabloid furore saw the plant cannabis sativa banned in Australia, even though cannabis had been a well-known and widely used drug in Australia for many decades. In 1964, a massive infestation of wild cannabis was found growing along a stretch of the Hunter River between Singleton and Maitland in New South Wales. The explosion in Australian marijuana use began there. It was fuelled after 1967 by US soldiers on rest and recreation leave from Vietnam. It was the Baby-Boomer young who were turning on. Pot smoking was overwhelmingly associated with the generation born in the decade after the Second World War. As the conflict over the Vietnam War raged in Australia, it provoked intense generational conflict between the Baby-Boomers and older generations. Just as in the US, pot was adopted by Australian Baby-Boomers as their symbol; and, as in the US, the attack on pot users served as code for an attack on the young, the Left, and the alternative. In 1976, the 'War on Drugs' began in earnest in Australia with paramilitary attacks on the hippie colonies at Cedar Bay in Queensland and Tuntable Falls in New South Wales. It was a time of increasing US style prohibition characterised by 'tough-on-drugs' right-wing rhetoric, police crackdowns, numerous murders, and a marijuana drought followed quickly by a heroin plague; in short by a massive worsening of 'the drug problem'. During this decade, organised crime moved into the pot scene and the price of pot skyrocketed, reaching $450 an ounce in 1988. Thanks to the Americanisation of drugs policy, the black market made 'a killing'. In Marijuana Australiana I argue that the 'War on Drugs' developed -- not for health reasons -- but for reasons of social control; as a domestic counter-revolution against the Whitlamite, Baby-Boomer generation by older Nixonite Drug War warriors like Queensland Premier, Bjelke-Petersen. It was a misuse of drugs policy which greatly worsened drug problems, bringing with it American-style organised crime. As the subtitle suggests, Marijuana Australiana relies significantly on 'alternative' sources, and I trawl the waters of popular culture, looking for songs, posters, comics and underground magazines to produce an 'underground' history of cannabis in Australia. This 'pop' approach is balanced with a hard-edged, quantitative analysis of the size of the marijuana market, the movement of price, and the seizure figures in the section called 'History By Numbers'. As Alfred McCoy notes, we need to understand drugs as commodities. It is only through a detailed understanding of the drug trade that the deeper secrets of this underground world can be revealed. In this section, I present an economic history of the cannabis market and formulate three laws of the market.