Reforming the management of serious misconduct: a temporal analysis of the NYPD

Abstract Meaningful reform of police misconduct management practice requires a strong understanding of how complaints, and subsequent management and punitive actions influence the behavior of officers. Methods for the management of minor misconduct are important and relatively well understood, serving as opportunities to implement behavior change prior to a more serious instance of misconduct. However, when officers commit serious misconduct, not all are dismissed from an agency, with some retaining their positions as police. The present research focuses on this group of officers: Those who committed substantiated serious misconduct and were returned to duty. Using this data from the NYPD, we analyze whether there are identifiable behavioral characteristics that predict repeated misconduct among officers. Recommendations are provided for departments to address this group of officers early on, before repeated misconduct occurs.