Crimes in Uniform: Deviant Behavior in Italian Law Enforcement and Impact on Public Safety Perception
Crimes in Uniform: Deviant Behavior in Italian Law Enforcement and Impact on Public Safety Perception

Summary/Abstract: Background: The aim of the article is to discuss some deviant behaviors insecurity and public order protection agencies. The research problem wasformulated: what factors determine the emergence of deviant behavior inlaw enforcement environments, and what preventive actions can be imple-mented to address this issue?Objectives: The development of deviant behavior among officers has manycauses, with key factors including environmental conditions, stress and thehardship of service. Research into the causes of their occurrence, particularlyethnographic research, is one of the possibilities of understanding them inorder to find ways to reduce their occurrence.Methods: Analysis and critique of literature, analysis of existing data.Results: Certain conditions favoring the development of deviant behavioramong officers as well as stimuli triggering these behaviors have beenidentified.Conclusions: The obtained results suggest that key factors contributing todeviant behavior of police officers include, among others: very high stress,difficult working conditions, a sense of helplessness in the face of the pre-vailing crime, and a sense of injustice regarding how criminals are treated.Separate causes include inadequate education and norms of behaviour inthe officers' residential environment, and relationships and dependence onconnections in the workplace. Juxtaposing the results with the available sci-entific literature indicates the need for psychological support for officers. Anessential measure is also the education of future representatives of securityand public order protection bodies as part of professional training, withreference to moral norms, by proposing positive role models that respectthe principles of professional ethics.

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