The relationship between proactive and reactive policing in allegations of misconduct.

摘要

Officers respond to a number of unpredictable and confrontational situations involving civilians daily. Being in such situations increases risk for numerous complaints and in turn, numerous allegations and investigations into their performance. Some research notes that proactive units are more prone to allegations of misconduct, which lead to investigative complaints, than that of reactive units. Investigative complaints are costly to the state, departments, and individual officers. Research regarding allegations of officer misconduct is limited and requires further investigation.;This study utilized archival data to explore four research questions to develop further understanding of allegations of officer misconduct and the outcomes of those allegations. Statistically significant differences in frequency of proactive and reactive officer allegations of misconduct were examined. Additionally, this study analyzed the proportion of those allegations which were exonerated and sustained. Furthermore, a more specific analysis was completed, determining the aforementioned analyses, but in specific relation to Use of Force allegations and outcomes.;In all, there were 296 units represented. For purposes of the analysis the units were coded as either reactive (N = 176) or proactive (N = 120). Primary interest was in statistically significant differences between the proactive and reactive units in respect to the number of allegations, those allegations that were use of force, as well as whether allegations were sustained or exonerated. Descriptive statistics, the t-test, z-test, and chi-square were employed to analyze the data, utilizing a.05 level as the criterion for statistical significance.;Analyses of these results found no difference between the proactive and reactive units in the number of allegations. There was no difference between the two types of units in the percentage of exonerations. However, within the units there were a greater percentage of exonerations than allegations that were sustained for the proactive group. The opposite occurred for the reactive units, as there were a greater percentage of sustained allegations. There was no overall statistical difference between the units for use of force allegations. Similarly, there was no statistical difference found between units when examining exonerated and sustained findings of use of force.