Police Misconduct Behaviour: An Empirical Study of Court Cases

摘要

The great majority of individuals in policing are committed to honourable and competent public service. However, in every police agency there exists an element of dishonesty, lack of professionalism, and criminal behaviour. This article is based on empirical research of criminal behaviour in the Norwegian police force. A total of 60 police employees were prosecuted in court because of misconduct and crime from 2005 to 2010. In our research, court cases were classified into categories of sentence severity measured in terms of days in prison. Out of 60 police employees on trial, 20 cases were dismissed from court. 12 persons were sentenced to less than 2 weeks in jail, 15 persons to less than 2 months, 9 persons to less than 2 years, and 4 persons to more than 2 years in prison.