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Control of Police Conduct: A Key Issue for Security Executives

NCJ Number
132304
Journal
Journal of Security Administration Volume: 13 Issue: 1-2 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 63-72
Author(s)
M A Greenberg
Date Published
1990
Length
10 pages
Annotation
An understanding of the conditions of police employment which may foster corruption and of the preventive measures used by law enforcement organizations would be useful to managers of security companies who employ off-duty officers.
Abstract
Some city and State laws contribute to the incidence of police corruption. For example, when laws make the legal and profitable operation of businesses such as gambling impossible, an atmosphere in which payoffs to the police are acceptable is created. Other types of laws which should be reexamined in this light include those which require the use of informants and police undercover work in vice law enforcement and those which prohibit police officers from moonlighting in certain establishments. Screening and training procedures need to be refined in order to exclude candidates who enter the police force with a predisposition toward corruption. Other mechanisms of internal control which can reduce corruption relate to the command structure, departmental rules, and supervisory practices. External controls exercised by the media and municipal authorities can also yield significant results. 20 references