Controlling Corruption and Misconduct: A Comparative Examination of Police Practices in Hong Kong and New York

Asian Criminology (2010) 5:2744

DOI 10.1007/s11417-009-9077-4

Received: 20 October 2008 /Accepted: 21 September 2009 /

Published online: 9 October 2009# Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009

Abstract Police corruption and misconduct are of perpetual concern to both the police and the public. Various measures have been used and programs created to reduce these problems. But existing research indicates that the effects of such measures are either transient or uncertain. Few studies have been conducted to understand the mechanisms for controlling police corruption and misconduct from an international, comparative perspective. This study intends to fill this gap by exploring the experiences of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) as well as those of the New York Police Department (NYPD). Although Hong Kong is today a part of China, it remains in the Common Law system and its police practices have been highly influenced by Western policing principles, making such a comparison relevant and perhaps useful. The findings of this study suggest that Hong Kong and New York have both adopted various measures for controlling police corruption and misconduct, but have diverged significantly from each other in the structure and content of their control efforts.

Keywords Police corruption and misconduct . Control measures . Hong Kong Police Force . New York Police Department

Introduction

Police corruption and misconduct are of perpetual concern to both the police and the public. Various measures have been used and programs created to reduce these problems. But existing research indicates that the effects of such measures are either transient or uncertain. Although separate studies of corruption and misconduct of specific police agencies exist, few studies have been conducted with the aim of understanding the mechanisms for controlling police corruption and misconduct from a comparative perspective. At the time of this writing, no study has yet compared police practices in the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the

A. Y. Jiao (*)

Department of Law and Justice Studies, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, NJ 08028-1701, USAe-mail: [email protected]

Controlling Corruption and Misconduct: A Comparative Examination of Police Practices in Hong Kongand New York

Allan Y. Jiao

28 Asian Criminology (2010) 5:2744

New York Police Department (NYPD). This study intends to fill this gap by exploring the experiences of the HKPF...