Police Integrity and the Czech Police Officers

The Velvet Revolution of 1989 ended the socialist period in former Czechoslovakia. Sixteen years after the transition toward democratic policing, we explore the integrity contours of the Czech police. In the summer of 2005, we surveyed more than 600 police officers from East Bohemia regarding their perceptions about the seriousness of police corruption, the appropriate punishment such misconduct deserves and would receive, and their willingness to report misconduct. The results indicate that the majority of the respondents correctly labeled behaviors described in our questionnaire as rule-violating. Furthermore, with the exception of the least serious forms of corruption, they supported and expected the two most serious forms of discipline: a cut in salary and dismissal. Finally, the majority of the respondents said that they would not be willing to tolerate the most serious forms of corruption in silence.