Crime and motive as predictors of jail sentence for police misconduct

The great majority of individuals involved in policing are committed to honourable and competent public service. However, when police misconduct does occur, there is a tendency to consider police crime as a result of bad practise, lack of resources or mismanagement, rather than acts of criminals. However, archival analysis of prosecuted police officers in Norway document that criminal acts are intentionally carried out by police officers on duty. This paper reports results from a study of 57 prosecuted police employees in Norway. Crime and motive were studied as potential predictors of jail sentence. Crime was measured on a scale from physical to non-physical crime, motive was measured on a scale from profession-based to profit-based motive, while sentence was measured in terms of days imprisonment decided in court. Statistical analysis confirmed that crime and motive combined can predict the number of prison days, but only crime was a significant predictor.