Does police culture impede the anti-corruption ideal : an unresolved dilemma

In 1989, a Commission of Inquiry known as the Fitzgerald Inquiry recommended massive reforms in the Queensland Police Service in the wake of high level corruption. Many of the 121 recommendations were made as a result of the perception that the police culture in Queensland contributed to a “culture” of corruption.This paper will consider whether “typical” police culture impedes the anti-corruption ideal in the context of specific recommendations about crime prevention.There are valid arguments to be made that the culture of the Fitzgerald era is not the culture of the contemporary Queensland Police Service. Dramatic changes have been made in policy development, professional standards, accountability and recruiting which have impacted on all sectors of the police, including the proactive field of crime prevention.The question remains whether structural and recruiting changes have had the impact on police culture that Fitzgerald envisaged for Queensland.Focusing on crime prevention within the Queensland Police Service, this paper uses policy analysis and interviews with police officers to present evidence which suggest a paradigm shift in Queensland, that although “typical” police culture still exists, it exists in a growing harmony with non-reactive police sections. Whether this is a culture that is corruption-resistant remains unresolved