The Contours of Police Integrity

Police misconduct is a topic of great concern worldwide. However, the causes of police corruption are remarkably different. Understanding the unique political, historical, legal, and economic institutions of a country is essential in identifying the potential for police misconduct. Police misconduct is a topic of great concern worldwide. However, the causes of police corruption are remarkably different. Understanding the unique political, historical, legal, and economic institutions of a country is essential in identifying the potential for police misconduct.

The Contours of Police Integrity is the only book that examines police corruption and police integrity across cultures. Editors Carl B. Klockars, Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovich, and M. R. Haberfeld begin with an introduction to the issues surrounding police integrity, followed by chapters that focus on the critical cultural, political, and historical conditions that influence police conduct in fourteen different countries. Based on the largest systematic survey of police integrity ever conducted, this innovative text illustrates how officers in different cultures regard various types of corruption, how severely they think transgressions should be punished, and how willing they are to come forward to report infractions.

Key Features

• Essays written by top criminal justice academics in each country
• Survey information from nations as diverse as Austria, Croatia, England, Pakistan, Japan, and the United States
• The opinions of nearly 14,000 police officers worldwide
• An instrument for determining the potential for police misconduct

Designed as a supplemental text for police administration and management, ethics in criminal justice, comparative criminal justice, and comparative policing courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level, The Contours of Police Integrity is also an indispensable resource for regional policing institutes and police training academies.

Carl B. Klockars is a Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology at the University of Delaware. A criminologist of more than thirty years experience, Prof. Klockars is the author of five books, more than fifty scholarly articles, and numerous professional papers. He has served as nationally-elected vice-president of the Police Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and was three times elected by the members of the American Society of Criminology to serve on its Executive Board. He has also served as a lobbyist for the Maryland Sheriffs Association and as an expert witness in cases alleging police misconduct. Prof. Klockars has been a pioneer in building collaborative research relationships between police and academics. He has written extensively on professional crime, criminological theory, the moral dilemmas of policing and police use of force. With colleagues he has recently completed a study with police agencies in Charleston, S.C., Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., and St. Petersburg, FL that seeks to understand the mechanisms through which police agencies may create organizational environments that enhance and encourage integrity.

Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovic is Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Florida State University. She received her LL.B. degree from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, a doctoral degree in Criminology (Ph.D.) from the University of Delaware, and a doctoral degree in law (S.J.D.) from the Harvard Law School. She is a member of the Croatian bar.

Dr. Kutnjak Ivkovic has been interested in a variety of topics in criminology, criminal justice, and sociology of law. She has studied participation of lay persons in the legal system both in the United States and abroad and conducted a study of the war crimes victims’ opinions about the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

A particular area of her interest and expertise is policing. Jointly with Carl Klockars, she has initiated a cross-cultural study of police corruption, which, over time and with support from colleagues from a number of countries, grew into a project including over 10,000 police officers from 14 countries. Dr. Kutnjak Ivkovic was also a Senior Research Associate on the related project "Enhancing Police Integrity" funded by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. In her recently completed doctoral dissertation, entitled "The Fallen Blue Knights: Controlling Police Corruption," she explored police corruption and mechanisms of its control. Another topic of her research in policing is the relationship between public support for the police and the democratization process of the Dr. Kutnjak Ivkovic has published a book and numerous journal articles and book chapters in the areas of policing, comparative criminology/criminal justice, and sociology of law. Her work appeared in journals such as "Law and Social Inquiry," "Stanford Journal of International Law," "International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice," "International Criminal Justice Review," "Journal of Crime & Justice," and "International Journal of the Sociology of Law."

Maria (Maki) Haberfeld is a Professor of Police Science, in the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. She was born in Poland and immigrated to Israel as a teenager. She holds two Bachelor or Art degrees, two Master degrees, and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice. Prior to coming to John Jay she served in the Israel National Police, and left the force at the rank of Lieutenant. She also worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Field Office, as a special consultant. She taught at Yeshiva University and New Jersey City University. Her research interests and publications are in the areas of private and public law enforcement, specifically training, police integrity, and comparative policing (her research involves police departments in the U.S., Eastern and Western Europe, and Israel). She has also done some research in the area of white-collar crime, specifically organizational and individual corruption during the Communist era in Eastern Europe. For about 4 years (1997-2001), she has been a member of the research team, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, studying police integrity in three major police departments in United States. Currently she is a Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Justice sponsored research project in Poland, where she studies the Polish National Police and its transformation to Community Oriented Policing. Her research in Poland focuses on the balancing act between the public perceptions of the new police reform and rampant accusations of corruption and lack of integrity. One of her publications, a book titled "Critical Issues in Police Training " (2002), is the first academic text, ever published, that covers all the phases and aspects of training of police officers in the United States. She has presented numerous papers, on training related issues, during professional gatherings and conferences, and written a number of articles and book chapters on police training, specifically police leadership, integrity, and stress. In addition, she has been involved in active training of police officers on issues related to multiculturalism, sensitivity, and leadership, as well as technical assistance to a number of police departments in rewriting procedural manuals. She is a member of a number of professional police associations, like the International Association of Chiefs of Police, International Police Association, American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers, and American Society for Industrial Security. Recently she has been involved in coordinating a special training program for the NYPD. She has developed and co-developed a number of courses for this special program and has delivered training to the NYPD supervisors in the area of counter-terrorism policies and leadership. After the WTC disaster she became a member of a special counter-terrorism task force, at John Jay College, working on the establishment of a counter terrorism institute, which will serve as resource data base for local and federal law enforcement agencies. She is also currently involved in the training of the Czech National Police, a project sponsored by the Transparency International Czech Republic.