Ebook: Peer Reporting of Unethical Police Behavior

Kargin examines police officers’ decision making with regard to peer reporting of unethical police behavior. On a theoretical level, a peer reporting model was developed based on Rest’s (1984) “four component,” Trevino’s (1986) “a person-situation interactionist,” and, finally, Jones’ (1991) “issue-contingent” models of ethical decision making for investigation of police officers’ peer reporting decisions. The results suggest that the perceived seriousness of the unethical behavior is the strongest predictor of police officers’ peer reporting in minor and moderate policy violations. However, officers’ attitudes toward professional ethics codes are the strongest predictors of their peer reporting intentions in situations involving major policy violations.