Jammed Up: Bad Cops, Police Misconduct, and the New York City Police Department

Drugs, bribes, falsifying evidence, unjustified force and kickbacks:
there are many opportunities for cops to act like criminals. Jammed Up is the definitive study of the nature and causes of police misconduct. While police departments are notoriously protective of their own--especially personnel and disciplinary information--Michael White and Robert Kane gained unprecedented, complete access to the confidential files of NYPD officers who committed serious offenses, examining the cases of more than 1,500 NYPD officers over a twenty year period that includes a fairly complete cycle of scandal and reform, in the largest, most visible police department in the United States. They explore both the factors that predict officer misconduct, and the police department’s responses

to that misconduct, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding the issues. The conclusions they draw are important not just for what they can tell us about the NYPD but for how we are to understand the very nature of police misconduct.

ACTUAL MISCONDUCT CASES

An off-duty officer driving his private vehicle stops at a convenience store on Long Island, after having just worked a 10 hour shift in Brooklyn, to steal a six pack of beer at gun point. Is this police misconduct?

A police officer is disciplined no less than six times in three years for failing to comply with administrative standards and is finally dismissed from employment for losing his NYPD shield (badge). Is this police misconduct?

An officer was fired for abusing his sick time, but then further investigation showed that the officer was found not guilty in a criminal trial during which he was accused of using his position as a police officer to protect drug and prostitution enterprises. Which is the example of police misconduct?

Robert J. Kane (Author)
Robert J. Kane is Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Baltimore.

Michael D. White (Author)
Michael D. White is Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University and the Associate Director of ASU’s Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. He is co-author of Cops, Cameras, and Crisis: The Potential and the Perils of Police Body-Worn Cameras (2020); Stop and Frisk: The Use and Abuse of a Controversial Policing Tactic (2016); and Jammed Up: Bad Cops, Police Misconduct, and the New York City Police Department (2013).