Tom Barker - Aggressors in Blue: Exposing Police Sexual Misconduct

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Everywhere [he was commenting on European Police Systems] there are special pitfalls for the policeman, peculiar temptations to which he is continually exposed. The prostitute who walks the street, the bookmaker who plies his trade on the sidewalk, the public-house proprietor who would keep open after hours, the prisoner on his way to a cell, in short every man or woman who would escape the operation of the penalty of law and is ready to pay [favors, money, or sex] for immunity constitutes a menace to the integrity of the policeman. (Fosdick : 369370)

Police sexual misconduct and other forms of police misconduct are present to some extent in all police agencies globally. To present a global analysis of police sexual misconduct is beyond the scope of this book. However, when possible I present evidence from other countries to make a point or demonstrate the occupational nature of police sexual misconduct . I use American and UK examples as my main sources of information.

Police sexual misconduct examples in the UK are used repeatedly because: (1) the studies are in English, (2) there are numerous official and social media PSM accounts, (3) the London Metropolitan Public Paid Police Model is the basis for the American police model. Furthermore, police sexual misconduct in the UK police systems has a long history and is pervasive (Critchley ). Ten of the 33 police forces in England and Wales did not respond to the inquiry. The common police agency response in the United States and other countries is to not respond to media requests for damaging information.

The results of the Observer found that 371 complaints were upheld and resulted in the resignations of 197 police officers, special officers or community support officers. The largest number of complaints came from the London Metropolitan Police force with 594 complaints119 were upheld. Among the overall complaints were: developing intimate sexual relationships with vulnerable members of the publicvictims and suspects, child sexual abuse, producing and distributing child pornography , sexual harassment , and rape. The study concluded that there was a sexist culture among some officers leading to numerous complaints by colleagues of sexual harassment and sexual assault. There is a need for more empirical study of PSM in the UK and other global police agencies. The police sexual misconduct typology developed in this work will stimulate more interest and lead to more research and analysis.

Police sexual misconduct has a long history in American police agencies ( see Eschholz and Vaughn ) in his study of patrolmen in three American cities concluded that in any year a substantial minority of police officers engage in behavior that violates the criminal law, misbehaves toward citizens, and violates department rules and regulations. Those criminal violations include police sexual misconduct .

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We examine police sexual misconduct (PSM ) as a form of occupational deviance and present a heuristic modelPSM Causal Equationto explain PSM. The PSM Causal Equation is based on rational choice theory and has three dimensions: inclination, opportunity, and real or perceived low risk. The PSM Causal Equation Model is supported by data and theorydeterrence, self-control, social learning theories and a modified routine activities modelapplied to police sexual misconduct . Finally, we develop an Empirical Typology of PSM and present Illustrative Examples of each type. Each PSM type is examined according to its best fit to the PSM Causal Equation.