NCJ Number
151411
Date Published
1995
Length
22 pages
Annotation
In contrast to the traditional argument that illegal activity committed by a police officer is a sign of individual moral weakness or a lack of professional qualifications, this author contends that so-called blue-coat crime stems from a functioning informal social system whose norms and practices are at variance with the law.
Abstract
This study is based on the hypothesis that illegal practices of police officers are socially prescribed and patterned through an informal code. Data was collected through the traditional ethnographic technique of using an inside informant, a police officer who was tried and convicted on charges of robbery and grand larceny. The informant identified many illegal practices including mooching, chiseling, prejudice, favoritism, shopping, extortion, bribery, shakedowns, perjury, and premeditated theft. The socialization of recruits into the code clique occurs on two levels: the formal, or membership group, and the informal, or reference, group. When a police officer is accused of illegal activity, other clique members work together to preserve the code. The code is often protected by its secrecy, public acceptance of the theory that illegal behavior is an individual problem, and the public's reluctance to become involved in police affairs. 38 references