Trust and Collusion in Australian Police Corruption Networks

• In Event: Roundtable: Policing

Abstract

Police corruption networks are hidden within the police organisation and rely on a core set of relationships re-enforced by an embedded police culture of exclusivity and silence. The opaque nature of these networks, coupled with the norms that support hidden goals and agendas, can provide a firm foundation for corruption. Research has distilled particular operating characteristics of other dark networks, such as terrorist and organised crime networks, however, the structure of police corruption networks remains under-explored. Even more so, trust is at the core of understanding how corruption networks operate and collaborate, however, there is a lack of empirical research which specifically explores the presence or absence of trust in criminal relations. Drawing upon documentary and social network analysis, this study aims to investigate how police corruption networks are structured and whether trust has an impact on the functioning of these networks. Transcripts from Australian Royal Commissions into police corruption will be used to uncover the hidden relationships and characteristics of these corruption networks. Understanding the dynamics and structure of these networks will help to inform law enforcement and intelligence agencies on how to best disrupt these corruption networks.

Author

• Shannon Merrington, Queensland University of Technology