Using Network Analytics to Improve Targeted Disruption of Police Misconduct

Abstract

Research into police misconduct traditionally considers the correlates and antecedents of misconduct among individual officers, as a means of disruption or prevention. However, more recently, deviance among police has been considered through network perspectives. This study considered 7755 allegations of misconduct accrued by 1495 officers from the Baltimore Police Department between January 2015 to January 2020. A social network analysis was employed to consider the characteristics and differences of misconduct networks between assignments and to identify key officers within these networks. Findings suggested that the misconduct networks of patrol assignments functioned marginally different to investigations or specialist duties. Discrete communities of misconduct were identified within each assignment, including a small number of officers that were particularly important to supporting these networks. This study holds practical implications for the identification and disruption of misconduct networks among law enforcement agencies.