Under the deterrence theory, an increase in the certainty, severity, or celerity of potential punishment for a contemplated offense increases its perceived costliness to the actor, and can thereby discourage it. The scope of deterrence theory was expanded recently in two respects: (1) the deterrent potential of informal sanctions threats, such as guilt, shame, and embarrassment, often exceeds that of formal sanction threats and (2) personal characteristics affect the deterrence process in a variety of ways. This study administered a survey about police misconduct to several hundred police officers from a mid-sized, southwestern police department in the United States. The study examined the extent to which formal and informal sanction threats influenced officers’ decisions to commit misconduct, and whether these processes were conditional on the impulsivity and prior punishment experience of respondents. In general, the study investigated whether police officers were influenced by deterrence considerations. Study findings included: (1) deterrence considerations appeared to figure prominently in police misconduct decisions; (2) impulsivity was strongly and positively associated with police misconduct; and (3) the potential for prior punishment experience to moderate the operation of deterrence may depend on the gravity of the contemplated offense. The results suggest the deterrence framework holds promise for helping researchers and policy officials understand police misconduct. Appendix and references