Internal Accountability in Police Forces: Exploring the Factors Associated with the Performance in a Military Police Internal Affairs

Abstract The aim of this paper is to identify the factors associated with the performance of police internal affairs divisions. Little is known about the performance determinants of organizations crafted to prevent deviant behavior of civil servants. To reach our goal, we analyzed 797 administrative proceedings against 1.195 military police of a given Brazilian state between 2005 and 2012. Our quantitative analysis demonstrated that cases involving more experienced police officers and crimes with increased complexity are less likely to be concluded. Our results also suggest that social norms and internal codes inherent to police forces affects the extent of punishment to implicated officers: some crimes seem to be tolerated while others are abhorred by the police force. Surprisingly, an increased centralization in the investigative activity is not associated with increased efficiency of the investigation process. Actually, investigation commissions formed by police officers specialized in investigating their own peers are less likely to have their cases concluded or to condemn police officers. Our results contribute to theoretical debates on the design of watchdog organizations and the literature on organizational performance of accountability bodies.

摘要 本研究旨在识别与警察内务部门履职绩效相关的影响因素。目前学界对于旨在防范公职人员越轨行为的监督组织的绩效决定因素仍知之甚少。为达成研究目标，我们分析了2005年至2012年间，针对巴西某州1195名宪兵的797项行政处分程序。我们的量化分析结果显示，涉及警务经验更丰富的警员以及案情更为复杂的案件，其结案概率更低。研究结果还表明，警察部门固有的社会规范与内部守则，会对涉事警员的惩戒力度产生影响：部分犯罪行为似乎会被警方群体容忍，而另一些则会被警方强烈反感。令人意外的是，调查活动的集权程度提升，并未与调查流程的效率改善呈现相关性。事实上，由专门负责侦办同僚违纪案件的警员组成的调查委员会，其负责的案件更难结案，也更难对警员作出惩戒判定。本研究结果可为监督组织架构设计的理论探讨，以及问责机构组织绩效相关的学术文献提供有益补充。