Book Review: Police Integrity Management in Australia: Global Lessons for Combating Police Misconduct

• Published date: 01 September 2013
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567713497484
• Author: Seumas Miller
• Date: 01 September 2013
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Weiss provides a concise yet informative background to the issue, highlighting the literature on

college student drinking and its consequences, and the relationship between alcohol and drug use

and crime and victimization among college student populations. After a brief contextualizing

description of Party University, located in Party Town (pseudonyms for a not too difficult to identify

setting) in Chapter 3, Weiss moves into the true substance of the book. In Chapters 4 through 7, data

from in-depth surveys and qualitative interviews are drawn upon to present the scope, nature, views,

and consequences of a lifestyle centered on drinking. Through just enough examples to make her

argument clear and convincing Weiss shows the diversity of experiences of students, yet leaves the

reader knowing that even though some students may not see college as simply ‘‘one big party,’’ for

many this is exactly what college is. Following the often frightening, and always engaging, presen-

tation of the major findings of the study of Party University, Chapter 8 examines how the situation

has reached the point it has, focusing on students’ views of ineffective law enforcement, a belief that

partying and its consequences is a private matter and a cultural code that normalizes, excuses, and

accepts intoxication as what should and does happen in college. A concluding chapter draws the

issues together and suggests possible policy responses, although doing so with less than full confi-

dence in such approaches chances of success.

Party School is an engaging read. For instructors looking to introduce their students to a solid

piece of scholarship that is both easy to read and sure to engage students, this would be a great book

for class. Not only is the topic volatile, but the class discussions generated by this book are certain to

be lively, passionate, and colorful. This is a book students will want to read, and a crime problem

about which they will undoubtedly have opinions that they are looking to share.

Louise Porter and Tim Prenzler. (2012).

Police Integrity Management in Australia: Global Lessons for Combating Police Misconduct. London, England: CRC

Press. 1–274 pp. ISBN 978-1-4398-9598-6.

Reviewed by: Seumas Miller, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University, Canberra,

Australia and 3TU Centre for Ethics and Technology at Delft University of Technology, The Hague, The Netherlands

DOI: 10.1177/1057567713497484

This monograph is essentially a description of police integrity systems across the eight police

jurisdictions in Australia, namely, the Commonwealth, New South Wales (NSW), Northern Terri-

tory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. An integrity system

is a set of institutional structures and processes established for the purpose of preventing, detecting,

and deterring unethical and unlawful conduct. Such structures and processes include the complaints

and discipline system, external oversight bodies, screening procedures, covert investigations,

integrity testing, early warning systems, witness support systems, and ethics training.

As far as I am aware, Porter and Prenzler’s monograph is the only comprehensive and systematic

scholarly description of police integrity systems in Australia. As such, it is a useful contribution both

to the academic literature and for the police managers.

The book begins with a brief overview of the problem of police misconduct. This is followed

by a chapter on each of the eight jurisdictions. Each chapter concludes with a brief description

of emerging ethical issues in the jurisdiction in question. The final chapter comprises an over-

view, noting both strengths and weaknesses of the Australian integrity systems, and some

recommendations.

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