Deviations in the structure of behavioral activity of police officers in recent years tend to grow and qualitative and quantitative transformation. We observe the preservation of autodestructive activity – suicide, alcoholism, and drug addiction. The most dangerous deviation form is criminal behavior and destructive conflicts in service teams. The most important is corruption and abuse of official positions, which make the police less attractive and authoritative.
People’s behavior must be controlled so that the scale of deviations does not exceed the permissible level. Each offense or crime committed by an officer poses a real threat to the existence of people and the stability of public order.
The results of studies show that deviant behavior develops gradually, passes through certain stages, and has at its core the interaction of a set of different causes and conditions, the knowledge of which helps to correct the employee’s behavior. From this point of view, the tasks of preventing deviant behavior of employees of internal affairs bodies should be considered with the allocation of specifics of deviations at different levels of their origin and manifestation. Corruption and the improper use of force have their origins in inadequate social training of employees, which is not always easy to correct (Garduno, 2019). Corrective work is built in such a way that the manager can convince the police officer of the need to follow social norms, develop self-control skills, and can respond adequately.
Conscious striving for positive changes is undoubtedly necessary, but the problem is that negativism toward others does not allow many deviants to assimilate and use new adaptive forms of behavior. The supervisor should control the employee’s process with the specialist, encouraging or punishing for positive or negative changes. It is essential to understand that many urban law enforcement problems are systemic, so the supervisor should monitor the situation regularly.
Reference
Garduno, L. S. (2019). Explaining police corruption among Mexican police officers through a social learning perspective. Deviant Behavior, 40(5), 602-620.