The relationship between organisational justice and police officer attitudes toward misconduct

To address police misconduct, law enforcement agencies traditionally have used deterrence-based methods-in the form of 'external controls', which monitor and punish unacceptable behaviour. Some scholars, however, claim that 'internal controls' are more effective for addressing workplace misconduct and these controls are produced when employees perceive a greater degree of organisational justice within their agencies. Using survey data from 15,807 police officers from 101 agencies, this study tests whether (a) organisational justice impacts officers' attitudinal support for misconduct, (b) organisational commitment is the mechanism that mediates the relationship, and (c) elements of command-and-control enhance or detract from the power of organisational justice to reduce attitudinal support for misconduct. Results suggest that organisational justice has both a direct and indirect (through organisational commitment) effect on officers' assessments of misconduct and that elements of command-and-control can enhance the power of organisational justice to reduce attitudinal support for misconduct among police officers.