Suchergebnisse

Up to 1992, all illegal use‐of‐force complaints against police officers in Israel were handled internally by the police department. In 1992, following public and political pressure, an external civilian board was established to handle such cases. In this framework, investigations of suspect police officers are conducted by former police officers. In this study, investigators' and suspects' personal and organizational characteristics were examined, as well as their attitudes to the civilian board and the manifestation of police violence. In general, the two groups were found to differ significantly on both levels. The employment of former police officers with high professional qualities seems to have some advantages in this investigative situation.

The aim of the current research was to examine the contribution of crime type and severity as well as offender, observer, and victim characteristics to prediction of perception of community correction (CC) as an appropriate punishment. We conducted a telephone survey among Israeli citizens. A random and representative sample of 573 respondents, aged 20 to 74, evaluated the seriousness of crime scenarios and the appropriateness of CC for each scenario. In different versions of crime scenarios, we manipulated offence type as well as offender and victim characteristics. The results of a logistic regression indicate that perceived lower crime severity, a crime that is not murder, older offender age, and being a secular observer are related with an increased likelihood of supporting community corrections. The discussion addresses these findings in the context of punitive goals (e.g., revenge, retribution), public perception of offender dangerousness, and social identity theory.