Professional Conduct: How Adherence to Rules Shapes Police Recruit Interaction With Diverse Community Groups

• In Event: Artifacts of Police Conduct and Accountability

Abstract

Police misconduct is complex, and requires police organizations to facilitate ongoing training and education in terms of police performance and awareness of bias towards minority groups. Data were collected from Police Recruits (PRs) and Protective Service Officers (PSOs) (N = 1609) to ascertain how attitude, temperament, use of physical force, adherence to rules, influence of supervisors and pride in the job influences police recruit conduct whilst policing people from diverse communities categorized by variations in racial, ethnic, religious, sexual and gender identities. Applying a Stepwise OLS model, we found police recruits are significantly influenced by superior officers, the level of pride they have in their job as police officers, and their understanding of the use of physical force when policing diverse community members. We argue identifying strategies to prevent misconduct and maintain awareness of bias towards diverse people is challenging but not impossible but it must begin with police awareness training at the academy.

Author

• Toby Miles-Johnson, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)