Police misconduct and malpractice: a critical analysis of citizens’ complaints

In this research several hypotheses suggested by conflict theory were tested in the analysis of official complaints lodged against a large police department in the southeastern United States. It was hypothesized that citizens with less power and fewer resources would be more likely than more powerful, more affluent citizens to file complaints of misconduct and to allege more serious forms of misconduct, and would be less likely to have their complaints sustained by police investigators. The first two hypotheses were supported; results for the third were mixed.