Why do street-level bureaucrats risk themselves for others? The case of Israeli police officers

What factors influence police officers’ willingness to risk themselves for others? Police officers are street-level bureaucrats, who are not only given the mandate to use deadly force in order to keep public order but also risk their most important resource – their lives – to protect society. We suggest three factors that prompt police officers to risk their lives: individual characteristics (a desire to gain respect and recognition, and testing one's courage, ideology, and personality), organizational conditions (expectations of peers and supervisors, promotion opportunities), and environmental context (a hostile working environment and the importance of public opinion to them). Using an abductive approach combined with a triangulated qualitative method, our findings indicate that personal characteristics are indeed important, but so too are organizational conditions and environmental context. The practical insight, therefore, is that decision makers ‘can’, in various formal and informal ways, influence street-level bureaucrats’ behaviour. Here, the interactions among managers, workers, and clients are a crucial element.     

Police officers’ perceptions of false allegations of rape

Abstract

The idea that women lie about rape is a long standing rape myth with little or no supporting evidence. Previous research has demonstrated a belief in high levels of false allegations among police officers, despite no evidence to suggest rape is falsely reported more than other crimes. This has implications for complainants’ willingness to report sexual violations, for the treatment of complainants within the justice system, and wider societal understandings about what constitutes rape. The data that informs this paper comes from an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study that focussed on rape attrition and the institutional response to rape. Forty in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with serving police officers in a UK force who regularly deal with reported cases of rape, and explored perceptions, practices and processes around rape. The research found police officers’ estimate of false allegations varies widely from 5 to 90%. The paper will discuss how police officers make judgements about perceived veracity of complainants in rape cases. This will demonstrate that whilst significant progress has been made in how police officers and police forces respond to rape, gender stereotypes about women as deceitful, vengeful and ultimately regretful of sexual encounters, continue to pervade the thinking of some officers. It will show that police officers differentiate between ‘types’ of reports they consider to be false, and operate with a notional ‘hierarchy’ of presumed false allegations that ranges from vengeful/malicious to mistaken/confused, with a corresponding reducing level of culpability attributed to women for the supposedly false allegation. It concludes that this serves to reinforce a culture that both supports and reproduces gender inequality and its manifestation in the form of sexual violence, and that intervention, training and institutional and policy frameworks are not wholly successful in addressing sexual violence in this context.     

近十年国内外警察幸福研究综述

幸福是人类永恒的追求,人们对幸福问题的关注由来已久。最近10年来关于警察幸福的研究日益增多,国内外研究呈现出以下趋势:对"警察幸福"概念不一致,在"幸福"的含义及其组成要素方面存在诸多分歧;心理学是主要研究阵地,在传统的压力研究之外出现新的研究动向;实证研究中自变量呈现多元化趋势,对特定对象的专门研究体现出较强的中西方差异。     

公安行政执法存在的问题及解决途径探析

严格公正执法是公安工作的灵魂、是依法治国的基本要求。当前公安行政执法存在部分执法人员综合素质偏低、法治意识淡薄,滥用职权、行政执法利益化倾向依然存在,行政执法程序不规范,公安执法监督机制弱化、执法监督力度不大等问题。对此,文章分析、探讨了进一步强化社会主义法治理念教育,不断强化依法行政观念,深化执法责任制、强化执法过程监督,重视公安行政执法的基层基础工作建设等解决问题的途径。     

警察院校大学生廉政意识教育长效机制的构建

警察院校大学生预备警官的特殊身份,决定了其廉政意识教育尤为重要。廉政意识教育是一个系统工程,需要建立科学的长效机制,文章着重从建立适合警察院校特点的学员思想政治工作管理体制、建立符合警察院校学员特点的教育体系和不断完善警校学员廉政意识教育的监防体系方面进行了探究。     

警察人性化执法的合理定位及其有效保障——以袭警事件为视角

近几年来,我国各地发生了一系列暴力袭警事件,不仅严重危害了警察的人身安全,而且也是对警察执法权威和执法尊严的挑战,更是对国家法律尊严的藐视和挑衅。随着袭警事件的凸显．有关部门和学者在分析原因时认为。袭警事件频发与公安机关推出的“人性化”执法有关,应当叫停人性化执法。其实．正当的警察人性化执法非但不是袭警案件发生的原因,反而是消减该类案件发生的一项有效举措。当前,警察人性化执法之所以引起争议．并非其本身的问题,而是制度设计存在漏洞。因此,应当走出人性化执法的误区,完善警察人性化执法的保障机制．     

群体性事件处置中“慎用警力”原则研究

在处置群体性事件中,必须讲究政策、讲究策略、讲究方法,坚持“三个慎用”原则。其中,“慎用警力”原则主要适用于非警务活动。非警务活动是公安部的通知通告中出现的非正式用语。当前,我国一些地方公安机关非警务活动所占时间比例已经超越了正常的警务工作时间。应当严禁公安机关违反规定从事非警务活动。进一步规范各类非警务活动。非警务活动的形成渊源有两个：服务型警务和地方政府利益。“镇用警力”原则的具体表现为合理用警、规范用警。     

警察执法权力的边界与私权维护

当前警察执法活动中存在着侵犯公民私权的现象,其中一个重要原因是执法者不能准确区分执法权的边界,造成越界执法,导致侵权。建设和谐社会与法制国家必须进一步规范和限制执法权力的运用,实现公权和私权的平衡与协调,在执法中树立以权利为本位的执法理念,明确公权与私权的边界,规范公权力行使,保障私人权益。     

群体性事件临战处置的战术探讨

群体性事件之所以难以处置,不仅在于群体性事件发生的原因杂、涉及广、人数众、局面乱,还在于指导公安机关处置群体性事件的意见和规定或过于抽象,或过于笼统,缺少适应性和操作性,跟不上治安形势的发展。尽管在群体性事件的临战处置中,警察的职责任务、警力调动、处置措施都有相应的规定,但目前从警察临战战术的层面进一步研究群体性事件的处置程序和方法,使之更具有操作性和针对性,仍是公安理论研究的一项迫切任务。     

基于综合集成研讨厅的应急警务情报研判

随着社会矛盾的尖锐化,应急警务活动日益频繁。情报研判的准确性在保证应急警务的制胜方面起着重要的作用。本文分析了现阶段应急警务活动中常用的情报采集与研判方式及其优缺点;在介绍综合集成研讨厅模型的基础上,设计了应急警务导入该方法的思路。最后结合当前应急警务队伍的实际状况,分析了引入综合集成研讨厅方法存在的困难,并提出了相应的改进对策。