RT Article
T1 “It’s all about covering your . . .”: The unintended consequences of police accountability measures
JF Criminology & criminal justice
VO 24
IS 3
SP 585
OP 607
A1 Huey, Laura 1966-
A2 Ferguson, Lorna
A2 Ricciardelli, Rose 1979-
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1895379865
AB Policing faces increased accountability measures, influencing officers to engage in “covering your ass” and over-documentation. In this qualitative study of police officers across three Canadian provinces, we unpack the “covering your ass” mentality by exploring the paperwork burden as an unintended consequence of movements toward greater policing accountability. We find that covering your ass leads officers to complete paperwork to protect themselves from personally being investigated. They use paperwork to ensure they overcome any legal vulnerabilities by justifying their actions and explaining their interpretations of other officers’ actions. We present policy implications of these findings tied to police accountability, the impacts of covering your ass, and the resulting paperwork burden.
K1 Policing
K1 paperwork burden
K1 over-documentation
K1 Accountability
DO 10.1177/17488958221140551