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Measurement of Police Integrity, Final Report

NCJ Number
171654
Author(s)
C B Klockars; S K Ivkovich; W E Harver; M R Haberfeld
Date Published
1997
Length
375 pages
Annotation
National samples of 1,649 Croatian police officers from 41 different police stations and 3,235 U.S. police officers from 30 different police agencies were surveyed with an instrument designed to measure their perceptions of the seriousness of police misconduct, the extent to which they supported discipline, and their willingness to report misconduct.
Abstract
Findings showed all three measures--seriousness of misconduct, support for discipline, and willingness to report misconduct-were highly correlated with and between both countries. The three measures were different aspects of the same phenomenon and suggested there was a common understanding of the hierarchy of the seriousness of corruption in both countries. Nonetheless, the occupational culture of policing in Croatia differed from that in the United States, primarily in the extent to which it was prepared to tolerate corruption. In general, Croatian police officers viewed misconduct less seriously than U.S. police officers and expected less severe discipline for such misconduct. A police "code of silence" existed in both countries but was stronger in Croatia. Appendixes contain integrity profiles prepared for the 15 U.S. police agencies and the survey instrument in English, Croatian, Slovenian, and Polish. Tables and figures