Addressing Corruption in The Police Service

“Brookshaw offers an original contribution with an excellent interface of theory and practical analysis. The research and application of the Triangle of Kakistocracy model are also rooted in the policing experience of the author and examine the subject of police corruption which can be of immediate value to researchers and practitioners in seeking an improvement in police conduct.” -Prof. Kempe Ronald Hope, Sr., Director, Policy Group, Development Practice International, Canada. "Brookshaw provides a superb and uniquely novel analysis of police corruption, viscerally highlighting the disparity between the ethical presentation of police organizations and how they really operate. His concept of the 'honest cop belief' is an especially important frame for understanding the familiar culture of denial within the police and the rhetorical myth of police deviance resulting from a few-bad-apples. Theoretically and empirically rich, this insider account lifts the lid on the social, institutional, political and cultural contexts that enables police deviance.” -Dr. Bethan Loftus, Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Bangor University, UK. This book offers an autoethnographic examination of the author's last three years as a serving police officer and as Head of the Professional Standards Department, recorded in personal journals. It analyses the emotional and philosophical impact arising from day-to-day interactions with police officers and reflects on corruption and how it is perceived both inside and outside the service. This book posits a model of the kakistocratic police milieu as a theoretical framework for analysis of the police in contemporary neoliberal liquid modernity which could be used to explore other police phenomenological research data. This autoethnographic insider research provides a rare addition to the knowledge on police corruption. It speaks in particular to those doing professional policing degrees and police practitioners. Brendan Brookshaw completed his PhD at the University of Plymouth, UK, which was an autoethnographic examination of police attitudes towards corrupt or improper practice by police officers. Since 2016 he has been a lecturer in Professional Policing and Criminology at Plymouth University and at City College Plymouth. In September 2018 Brendan retired from the Police as Detective Chief Inspector after 30 years’ service.