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Police Misconduct and Malpractice: A Critical Analysis of Citizens' Complaints

NCJ Number
173171
Journal
Policing Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: 1998 Pages: 80-96
Author(s)
K M Lersch
Date Published
1998
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study used conflict theory to aid in interpreting findings from an analysis of the database of official citizen complaints against police in a large southern municipal police department over a 3-year period.
Abstract
Data were obtained from the internal affairs office of the department. To be considered for analysis, a citizen must have initiated contact with the agency and must have filed a formal complaint concerning a contact with a sworn officer. Over the 3 years of the analysis (1992-94), 527 complaints were filed. The study hypothesized, on the basis of conflict theory, that minority citizens and those with fewer resources and less power would be more likely to file complaints of misconduct against police officers and to experience more serious acts of misconduct than those with greater power and more resources. These hypotheses were supported by the data. As shown by the census tract data, a disproportionate number of complainants lived in areas characterized by lower incomes, lower educational levels, fewer white residents, and higher levels of poverty and unemployment. Further, when citizens residing in areas marked by less power and fewer resources filed complaints, the complaints were more likely to contain allegations of violent and nonviolent harassment. Finally, there was apparently some relationship between the complainant's race and the substantiation rate of complaints; when the bivariate relationship was examined, race was a significant predictor. These findings are consistent with the contentions of conflict theorists, who view police brutality and other forms of police misconduct as a tool used by dominant groups in society to protect their hold on limited resources. 4 tables and 59 references