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Corruption Prevention and Complaint Management

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Policing and Security in Practice

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Abstract

Policing is now widely recognized as a high-risk occupation for diverse types of misconduct, including financial corruption, legal process corruption and excessive force. Police work also tends to attract large numbers of complaints, many of which concern lower-level customer service issues. This chapter reports on current developments in police integrity systems, which increasingly are adopting a complex array of misconduct prevention techniques. The chapter addresses the challenging issue of the division of labour between internal professional standards departments and external oversight agencies. Attention is also paid to measuring misconduct, refining codes of conduct, integrity-related recruitment and training methods, compulsory reporting and whistleblower protection, integrity testing, drug and alcohol testing, covert tactics and recording police activities. The chapter concludes by setting out best practice principles in responding to complaints, including local resolution, mediation and early intervention.

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© 2012 Tim Prenzler

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Porter, L., Prenzler, T. (2012). Corruption Prevention and Complaint Management. In: Prenzler, T. (eds) Policing and Security in Practice. Crime Prevention and Security Management series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137007780_8

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