Abstract
This chapter reports the results of an Australian survey of police using the international ethical climate questionnaires developed by Klockars et al. Two major police departments distributed the questionnaires to their officers on condition of anonymity. The findings from the survey—conducted in 2013—were largely positive. On the whole, respondents understood the serious nature of different types of ethics violations and expressed willingness to report violations, although willingness to report was correlated with degrees of perceived seriousness. As with the results of similar surveys, respondents tended to have a lower view of the integrity of colleagues compared to their own position. A key finding was that seriousness ratings and willingness to report tended to increase with rank. This informed the main policy implication: that the ethical perspectives adopted by more senior police need to be transmitted more widely across police ranks.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bayley, D. H. (2002). Law enforcement and the rule of law: Is there a tradeoff? Criminology & Public Policy, 2, 133–154.
Bryett, K., Harrison, A., & Shaw, J. (1997). The role and function of police in Australia. Sydney: Butterworths.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Crime and Misconduct Commission. (2010). The ethical perceptions and attitudes of Queensland POLICE SERVICE recruits and first year constables1995–2008. Brisbane: Crime and Misconduct Commission.
Crime and Misconduct Commission. (2013). Annual report 2012–13. Brisbane: Crime and Misconduct Commission.
Decker, S. H. (1981). Citizen attitudes towards the police: A review of past findings and suggestions for future policy. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 9, 80–87.
Fitzgerald, T. (1989). Report of a commission of inquiry pursuant to orders in council. Brisbane: Government Printer.
Huon, G., Hesketh, B., Frank, M., McConkey, K., & McGrath, G. (1995). Perceptions of ethical dilemmas: Ethics and policing—study 1. Payneham: National Police Research Unit.
Independent Police Complaints Commission. (2013). Police complaints: Statistics for England and Wales 2011/12. http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/research_stats/complaints_statistics_11-12.pdf. Accessed 4 Oct 2013.
International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2002). Law enforcement code of conduct. In police chiefs desk reference (pp. 34–39). Washington: International Association of Chiefs of Police & Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Kennedy, G. A. (2004). Royal commission into whether there has been corrupt or criminal conduct by any Western Australian Police Officer, final report v. 2. Perth: Government of Western Australia.
Klockars, C. B., Kutnjak Ivković, S., Harver, W., & Haberfeld, M. (2000). The measurement of police integrity. Washington: National Institute of Justice.
Klockars, C. B., Kutnjak Ivković, S., & Haberfeld, M. R. (Eds.). (2004). The contours of police integrity. Newbury Park: Sage.
Kutnjak Ivković, S., & Shelley, T. O. (2010). The code of silence and disciplinary fairness: A comparison of Czech police supervisor and line officer views. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 33(3), 548–574.
Murphy, K. (2009). Public satisfaction with police: The importance of procedural justice and police performance in police-citizen encounters. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 42(2), 159–178.
Murphy, K., Hinds, L., & Fleming, J. (2008). Encouraging public cooperation and support for police. Policing and Society, 18(2), 136–155.
Myhill, A., & Bradford, B. (2013). Overcoming cop culture? Organizational justice and police officers’ attitudes toward the public. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 36(2), 338–356.
NSW Police Force. (2012). NSW police force complaint handling guidelines.https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/about_us/policies__and__procedures/policies/nsw_police_force_complaint_handling_guidelines.pdf. Accessed 13 Jan 2015.
O’Brien, R. (1991). The individual, socialisation and police corruption. Australian Police Journal, 45(1), 4–8.
Office of Police Integrity. (2007a). Past patterns—Future directions: Victoria police and the problem of corruption and serious misconduct. Melbourne Office of Police Integrity.
Office of Police Integrity. (2007b). A fair and effective Victoria police discipline system. Melbourne: Office of Police Integrity.
Office of Police Integrity. (2009). Review of the use of force by and against Victorian police. Melbourne Office of Police Integrity.
Porter, L. E., & Prenzler, T. (2012a). Police integrity management in Australia: Global lessons for combating police misconduct. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Porter, L. E., & Prenzler, T. (2012b). Police oversight in the United Kingdom: The balance of independence and collaboration. International Journal of Law Crime and Justice, 40(3), 152–171.
Prenzler, T. (2010). Change and continuity in Australian policing. In R. Lincoln & S. Robinson (Eds.), Crime over time: Temporal perspectives on crime and punishment in Australia (pp. 171–186). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Prenzler, T., & Sarre, R. (2012). The police. In H. Hayes & T. Prenzler (Eds.), An introduction to crime and criminology (pp. 258–274, 3rd edn.). Sydney: Pearson.
Prenzler, T., Beckley, A., & Bronitt, S. (2013). Police gifts and benefits scandals: Addressing deficits in policy, leadership and enforcement. International Journal of Police Science and Management, 15(4), 294–304.
Queensland Government. (2011).Government response to the independent review of the Queensland police complaints, discipline and misconduct system. http://www.premiers.qld.gov.au/publications/categories/reviews/assets/government-response-police-complaints-review.pdf. Accessed 4 Oct 2013.
Smith, P. E., & Hawkins, R. O. (1973). Victimization, types of citizen-police contacts and attitudes toward the police. Law & Society Review, 8(1), 135–152.
Tyler, T. R., Callahan, P. E., & Frost, J. (2007). Armed, and dangerous (?): Motivating rule adherence among agents of social control. Law & Society Review, 41(2), 457–492.
United Nations. (1979). Code of conduct for law enforcement officials. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/LawEnforcementOfficials.aspx. Accessed 4 Oct 2013.
Wolfe, S. E., & Piquero, A. R. (2011). Organizational justice and police misconduct. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38(4), 332–353.
Wood, J. R. (1997). Final report of the Royal Commission into the New South Wales police service. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Porter, L., Prenzler, T., Hine, K. (2015). Police Integrity in Australia. In: Kutnjak Ivković, S., Haberfeld, M. (eds) Measuring Police Integrity Across the World. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2279-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2279-6_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2278-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2279-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)