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ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO POLICE MISCONDUCT AMONG ROYAL MALAYSIA POLICE (RMP) IN KUALA
LUMPUR AND SELANGOR
MING TAT, TEH1, EMBI, MUHAMAD ALI2, KAH CHOON, LOW3
1PhD Candidate in the Ghazali Shafie Graduate School of Government (GSGSG), University Utara Malaysia.
ming816607@gmail.com 2Professor in the School of Government (SoG), University Utara Malaysia.
ali@uum.edu.my
3Senior Lecturer in the School of Government (SoG), University Utara Malaysia, and Research Fellow in the Institute of Research for Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore (ITS), University Utara Malaysia.
kahchoon@uum.edu.my
Abstract: The police institution is the leading national security institution in maintaining national security, especially in matters related to peace and harmony. However, it is reasonable to speculate that police officers would react similarly to other employees when they perceived organizational mistreatment. Hence, this study aims to determine the organizational factors that could contribute to police misconduct. The respondents of the study were consisting of 379 police officers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The research instrument used was a questionnaire using a five-Likert scale and the results were analysed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to measure whether there is a significant relationship between the study variables. Results indicate that three factors can be concluded that affect police misconduct which are leadership, organizational culture, and the work environment factors. Meanwhile, the findings also highlighted that organizational structure as well as the training and development factors do not affect police misconduct. Finally, the outcomes also found that the organizational culture is the factor that affects the most police misconduct compared to the leadership and work environment factor. The major implication of this study is for the police officers especially those in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to understand the current situation of police misconduct and how the organizational factors affect police misconduct. The headquarters of the police department also could look forward to improvising the organizational factors based on the results. In practice, it was extremely important for the top management of the Police Service to comprehend the factors that influence police misconduct in the police department in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to implement strategies to improve the performance of their duties.
Keywords: Organizational Factors, Leadership, Training and Development, Organizational Culture, Organizational Structure, Police Misconduct
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION PROBLEM STATEMENT RESEARCH OBJECTIVES RESEARCH IN MALAYSIA RESEARCH ABROAD CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK METHODOLOGY DATA ANALYSIS
1. Determine
2. Determine
3. Determine
4. Determine
5. Determine
6. Determine
the Effect of Leadership Contributing to Police Misconduct the Effect of Training and Development Contributing to Police Misconduct the Effect of Organizational Culture Contributing to Police Misconduct the Effect of Organizational Structure Contributing to Police Misconduct the Effect of Work Environment Contributing to Police Misconduct Which Organizational Factor Contributes to Police Misconduct
DISCUSSION
1. To Determine the Effect of Leadership Contributing to Police Misconduct
2. To Determine the Effect of Training and Development Contributing to Police Misconduct
3. To Determine the Effect of Organization Culture Contributing to Police Misconduct
4. To Determine the Effect of Organization Structure Contributing to Police Misconduct
5. To Determine the Effect of Work Environment Contributing to Police Misconduct
6. To Determine Which Organizational Factor Contributes to Police Misconduct IMPLICATION OF STUDY
RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
The Malaysia Royal Police or PDRM functions as law enforcement and have jurisdiction throughout the Federation (including its coast territorial) as contained in Section 3(3) of the Police Act 1967 (Act 344). The efforts of PDRM in leading and implementing various ways of developing the national security sector, image, identity, and attitude towards the PDRM organization required a set of images that served as a platform for police officers in shaping the behaviour and misconduct among PDRM officers (Bakri et al., 2015).
It is reasonable to speculate that police officers would react similarly to other employees when they perceived organizational mistreatment (Reynolds & Helfers, 2019). For example, during semi-structured interviews, officers have reported reacting to perceived injustice by engaging in several types of police misconduct, such as organizational defiance (Mann & Rawat, 2021), which provides support that organizational justice was an essential component to minimalizing police misconduct. Unfortunately, previous research suggested that many police officers perceived police departments as being unfair. Given the enumerable examples of varying types of police misconduct chronicled by the media and social outlets (Kara et al., 2015), police misconduct continued to be of interest to researchers and practitioners as an important line of research.
The problem of police misconduct remained of interest to laypersons and scholars alike. As the number of highly publicized incidents of police malfeasance in the media seems never-ending, researchers continued in their efforts to identify the organizational and environmental precursors of police misconduct (Wood et al., 2019). Police officers as the gatekeepers of formal social control were not only responsible for enforcing laws and protecting the public but also were entrusted to represent order and justice in society. Police officers needed to satisfy many capacities in the public eye, which incorporated law requirements, upkeep of requests, and criminal examinations (Headley, 2018a). Cops reacted full of damage, peril, and passing which can lastingly affect their social and individual lives. In satisfying their obligations, cops were consistently presented to do the work stressing episodes that make them particular from other individuals.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Explanations of police misconduct were generally divided into two theories: "bad apples" and "bad institutions". At the individual level, bad-apple theories stressed that police misconduct was related to officer-level factors, such as age, race, gender, education, temperament, and experience (Rasdi, 2018). However, while previous research was certainly informative, there remained several noteworthy reasons why we should continue to investigate the roles played by police organizations and the organizational factors. First, prior research on police misconduct was restricted largely to inquiries that target a single city, police department, or a small and often non-random sample of communities (Shahrul et al., 2021). There were few efforts based on a large number of communities or cities that explored the antecedents of police misconduct, leaving one to doubt the representativeness of the samples used in previous studies.
Limited national data collection on police misconduct made it difficult to determine the rate of misconduct allegations and incidents at the local level, to compare misconduct rates across communities, or to estimate with any certainty national rates of allegations or incidents of misconduct (Ahmad et al., 2018). The plethora of other police behaviours considered misconduct has generated much less empirical scrutiny primarily because of data limitations. Finally, only a few studies examined the role of organizational factors in predicting police misconduct other than police use of excessive force (Mann & Rawat, 2021). This omission was especially noteworthy because it was frequently proffered that organizations were critical for attenuating police malfeasance (Shahrul et al., 2021). Despite the general recognition that organizations, including police bureaucracies, were limited in their efforts to control police discretion generally, and curb police misconduct specifically, several organizational characteristics, policies, and practices were theorized to influence police discretion including police misconduct.
Police misconduct had been an oft-studied topic even though a consistent theoretical understanding of the phenomenon had remained elusive (Zakarani et al., 2021). The inability to test theories was not the fault of the scholarly community but rather the consequences of the lack of access to sufficient data and the ambiguity that was attached to the term police misconduct (Virginia Rincón & Miguel González, 2014). This line of research enhanced our understanding of how organizational factors may influence police misconduct and had the potential to make important contributions to organizational policy and supervisor training regarding the importance of fostering fair organizational policies and practices. Therefore, this was an existing interesting problem that need in-depth study in order to identify the possible factors that lead to police misconduct so that the possible solution could be taken to prevent from happening in future. Therefore, this research tried to fill this research gap by answering the research question of what organizational factors (leadership, training and development, organizational culture, organizational structure, and work environment) contributed to police misconduct among the PDRM so that the incidents of death as a result of police misconduct could be reduced.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this study was conducted to examine the organizational factors that contributed to police misconduct. To achieve the main objectives of the study and answer the above research question, this study is dedicated to the following aspects:
1. To determine the effect of leadership contributing to police misconduct.
2. To determine the effect of training and development contributing to police misconduct.
3. To determine the effect of organizational culture contributing to police misconduct.
4. To determine the effect of organizational structure contributing to police misconduct.
5. To determine the effect of the work environment contributing to police misconduct.
6. To determine which organizational factors contribute to police misconduct.
RESEARCH IN MALAYSIA
There were research done based on organizational factors and police misconduct in Malaysia. One of the research is by Bakri et al. (2015) with the title "Case Study On Integrity Among Royal Malaysian Police (RMP)". Government officials' unethical conduct has recently become a major source of concern in both developed and developing nations. A public servant, like a police officer, could easily misuse their authority or use their position for personal gain, harming the public sector as a whole. The purpose of the study was to determine how trustworthy RMP officers are. According to the data gathered from 189 officers, respondents viewed each of the scenarios listed in the questionnaires as a serious issue, indicating a high level of integrity among RMP.
Apart from that, other research was done on "The Effect of Organizational and Environmental Factors on Police Misconduct" by (Eitle et al., 2014). This study breaks down the relationship between police hierarchy and natural factors and police wrongdoing utilizing information obtained from the new Public Police Offense Insights and Detailing Venture (2009-2010). By making
use of this informational index, we could limit our risk of not being able to quantify police bad behaviour to a much greater extent than we have in the past. The following authoritative characteristics of hierarchical size, the presence of a full-time internal projects unit, and inadministration preparation notable in anticipating police offence were revealed by a damaging binomial relapse investigation of 497 city police divisions. The primary ecological variable that affected police misconduct was the rate of violent crime. These results demonstrated not only the significance of hierarchical structure in influencing police bad behaviour but also suggested that a police division can find hierarchical changes that can help weaken instances of police wrongdoing.
Besides that, police workload and performance were also questioned and queried by the public. Thus, research by Ahmad et al. (2018) was done based on the factors influencing job performance among police personnel as an empirical study in Selangor. This study examined the predictive factors of job performance involving work stress, social support and emotional intelligence. Data were gathered from 424 Selangor police officers who completed the Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), Emotional Intelligence Self-Description Inventory (EISDI), and Formal Performance Appraisals using two-stage cluster random sampling. Police job performance was significantly correlated with work stress, social support, and emotional intelligence, according to the findings. Regression analysis also showed that the most important factor in predicting job performance was emotional intelligence. The findings of this study pointed to the significance of emotional intelligence in improving job performance among Selangor police officers. The paper concluded by highlighting future research directions that may lead to a more in-depth investigation of job performance prediction, particularly in Malaysia.
RESEARCH ABROAD
There were also plenty of research based on the variables of the current research. One of the research by Tengpongsthorn (2017) titled "Factors affecting the effectiveness of police performance in Metropolitan Police Bureau". The study's objective was to investigate the factors that influenced the work efficiency of Thai Metropolitan Police Bureau officers. The research used questionnaires and in-depth interviews as research tools to implement both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The 405 police officers from various police stations under the control of the Thai Metropolitan Police Division were included in the overall samples based on cluster and simple random samplings in the quantitative research methodology, whereas purposive sampling was used to select the 25 samples in the qualitative research. The frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson correlation were utilized for data analysis. The effectiveness of work performance was found to be positively correlated with both hygiene factors and motivator factors. All divisions of Metropolitan Police officers agreed that a lack of modern equipment and an imbalance in personnel were obstacles to work performance, while sufficient equipment was a factor facilitating an increase in work performance.
Apart from that, there was another research by Reynolds & Helfers (2019) with a focus on "Organizational Injustice and Police Misconduct: Predicting Organizational Defiance Among Police Officers". The connection between employee performance and organizational justice was supported by extensive research. Self-reported police misconduct was predicted using the theoretical framework of organizational justice in this study. In particular, this study investigated the connection between perceptions of overall organizational injustice and three forms of police defiance, building on earlier research into police officers' behavioural responses to perceived injustice, knowingly undermining the administration's goals and disregarding organizational policies and procedures, as well as using departmental rules, policies, or laws against the administration when necessary. An online self-report survey was given to a convenient sample of sworn police officers in a southern state who were members of a police officer association. The results of the analyses, which were conducted using multinomial logistical regression methods, suggest that officers' self-reports of engaging in all three forms of organizational defiance are influenced by their perception of overall injustice.
There was also a study focused on police misconduct by Wolfe & Piquero (2011) with a focus on organizational justice and police misconduct. Although scholars of policing had been interested in police misconduct for several years, the current body of research was largely theoretical
and ignored the role of organizational justice in understanding behaviour. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of organizational justice in police misconduct by utilizing survey data collected from a random sample of 483 Philadelphia Police Department officers. According to the findings, officers who believed that the management practices of their agency were fair and just were less likely to abide by the code of silence or to believe that police corruption in the service of a noble cause was justified. Additionally, lower levels of participation in a variety of forms of police misconduct were correlated with perceptions of organizational justice. The findings suggested that organizational justice was a promising framework for comprehending police misconduct and may assist administrators of police departments in putting into practice efficient management strategies to lessen the frequency of the conduct.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In this study, the researcher also developed a conceptual framework of the study which was used as a reference adapted from the concept of organizational factors towards police misconduct. Figure 1.1 shows the components that have been studied by the researcher. A research framework or conceptual framework was a collection of key concepts, constructs or variables that were thought to have a relationship with each other that have been researched by the researchers (Miles and Huberman, 1994, as cited in Jabareen, 2009). While in the view of the researcher, the research framework was the most important basic framework for a study, without a basic framework there is no meaning to study or no direction to cover all the things and factors involved in the study. The construction of the framework of this study is by considering the key variables and processes involved in the study.
METHODOLOGY
The results of a study were determined by the study design. According to Cohen et al. (2018), a study design was a plan or proposal for conducting a study that involved the interaction between the study philosophy, research strategy and study design. The study design was also defined as an action plan that reviewed in detail how a study is conducted. The study design involved in this study was of a quantitative type. Quantitative research was conducted for a large number of study respondents. In general, quantitative research involved statistical analysis which was more objective and relied on numerical statistical results. The design of this study was based on quantitative research because the total respondents of this study involved police officers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
Researchers argued that quantitative research was easier compared to qualitative research to collect data from a large number of respondents.
Of the two types of data analysis in the quantitative study, the researcher has chosen the type of descriptive statistical analysis in this study. This study used inferential analysis where the researcher analysed the data using correlation as well as multiple regression. The researcher also used methods of constructing charts and tables to gather information, organize, present data and process data or describe the data collected. Next, the survey method was a specific way to collect data to describe the nature or characteristics of the respondents. According to previous researchers, the survey method was very suitable to measure the respondents' views on an issue or topic, the achievement of the goals of a program as well as the attitudes and behaviours of respondents. Furthermore, the survey method means the process of collecting data directly from the survey respondents by using research questions (questionnaires) through Google Forms (via link). A population was a large group of individuals to be studied to obtain study results. The population in a study determines the sampling required in the study. In this study, the target population of the researcher consisted of police personnel across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Overall estimated employees from the police personnel in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were 8,763 and 13,970 respectively with the information garnered from Government Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS).
Next, the sampling of the study was an element or part selected from the population to be used as study respondents. The population of this study was the intended population and this study was limited to police personnel from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor only. Based on the total population is 22,733, concerning the population and sample size, the total sample to be selected was 379 police personnel (Krejcie & Morgan, 1970). The sampling method used was probability sampling. The respondent for the research will be chosen randomly based on all levels of police personnel in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to make sure to get well-balanced feedback from them. Each police personnel had the chance to be a respondent and the researcher used the systematic sampling method to choose the sample.
The selection of research instruments for a study was important in determining the results of the study. It should be in line with the methodology and objectives of the study. This study used a set of questionnaires as one of the research instruments. This set of questionnaires was conducted for the purpose to understand the six research objectives raised by the researcher. This set of questionnaires was a closed form that contained three sections (Sections A, B and C) related to respondent demographics information, organizational factors and police misconduct. To obtain conclusions or results of the study, the researcher analysed the data collected through SPSS Version 27. All data obtained were analysed based on primary sources, namely questionnaire data from study respondents. The researcher explained in detail using the inferential analysis whereby the correlation was used to explain the first five research objectives while the last research objective was analysed using the multiple regression method.
DATA ANALYSIS
1. Determine The Effect of Leadership Contributing to Police Misconduct
The research objective was to determine the effect of leadership contributing to police misconduct. The result in Table 1.1 showed that r (379) = .103, p = 0.046, p<.05, which shows that there was a low positive relationship between leadership towards police misconduct. The result also showed that leadership has a significant contribution towards police misconduct with p<.05.
Table 1.1: Effect of Leadership Contributing to Police Misconduct
Leadership Police Misconduct
Leadership Pearson Correlation 1 .103*
Sig. (2-tailed) .046
N 399 379
Police Misconduct Pearson Correlation .103* 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .046
N 379 379
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
2. Determine The Effect of Training and Development Contributing to Police Misconduct
The next research objective was to determine the effect of training and development contributing to police misconduct. The result in Table 1.2 showed that r (379) = .022, p = 0.662, p>.05, which shows that there was a low positive relationship between training and development towards police misconduct. The result also showed that training and development have no significant contribution towards police misconduct with p>.05.
Table 1.2: Effect of Training and Development Contributing to Police Misconduct
Training and
Development Police Misconduct
Training and Development Pearson Correlation 1 .022
Sig. (2-tailed) .662
N 379 379
Police Misconduct Pearson Correlation .022 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .662
N 379 379
3. Determine The Effect of Organizational Culture Contributing to Police Misconduct
The next research objective was to determine the effect of organizational culture contributing to police misconduct. The finding in Table 1.3 showed that r (379) = .161, p = 0.002, p<.05, which shows that there was a low positive relationship between organizational culture towards police misconduct. The result also showed that organizational culture has a significant contribution towards police misconduct with p<.05.
Table 1.3: Effect of Organizational Culture Contributing to Police Misconduct
Organizational Culture Leadership
Organizational Culture Pearson Correlation 1 .161**
Sig. (2-tailed) .002
N 379 379
Leadership Pearson Correlation .161** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .002
N 379 379
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
4. Determine The Effect of Organizational Structure Contributing to Police Misconduct
The next research objective was to determine the effect of organizational structure contributing to police misconduct. The finding in Table 1.4 showed that r (379) = .063, p = 0.220, p>.05, which shows that there was a low positive relationship between organizational structure towards police
misconduct. The result also showed that organizational structure has no significant contribution towards police misconduct with p>.05.
Table 1.4: Effect of Organizational Structure Contributing to Police Misconduct
Organizational Police
Structure Misconduct
Organizational Structure Pearson Correlation 1 .063
Sig. (2-tailed) .220
N 379 379
Police Misconduct Pearson Correlation .063 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .220
N 379 379
5. Determine The Effect of Work Environment Contributing to Police Misconduct
The next research objective was to determine the effect of the work environment contributing to police misconduct. The finding in Table 1.5 showed that r (379) = .141, p = 0.006, p<.05, which shows that there was a low positive relationship between the work environment towards police misconduct. The result also showed that the work environment has a significant contribution towards police misconduct with p<.05.
Table 1.5: Effect of Work Environment Contributing to Police Misconduct
Work Environment Police Misconduct
Work Environment Pearson Correlation 1 .141**
Sig. (2-tailed) .006
N 379 379
Police Misconduct Pearson Correlation .141** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .006
N 379 379
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
6. Determine Which Organizational Factor Contributes to Police Misconduct
The results of multiple regression analysis as in Table 1.6, showed that three independent variables have a relationship with police misconduct, R Square = .035, F (5, 373) = 2.697, p = .021. The regression equation based on B weights was as follows:
Predicted Police Misconduct = .262 (Leadership) + .064 (Organizational Culture) + .313 (Work Environment).
Table 1.6 also showed the correlation analysis of various coefficients was .187 (R-value), which means that 35% (R Square value) of the variance of the impact of organizational factors on police misconduct can be explained. In addition, the results also showed that organizational culture has the highest impact on police misconduct
Model
Table 1.6: The Organizational Factors that Contribute to Police Misconduct
Model Summary
Std. Error of the
R R Square Adjusted R Square Estimate
1
.187a
.035
.022
.54811
a. Predictors: (Constant), Leadership, Training and Development, Organizational Structure, Work Environment, Organizational Culture
Model Sum of Squares ANOVAa df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 4.052 5 .810 2.697 .021b
Residual 112.059 373 .300
Total 116.110 378
a. Dependent Variable: Police Misconduct
b. Predictors: (Constant), Leadership, Training and Development, Organizational Structure, Work Environment, Organizational Culture
Coefficients"
Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients Correlations
Std. Zero-
Model B Error Beta t Sig. order Partial Part
1 (Constant) 2.486 1.113 2.234 .026
Training and -.163 .151 -.055 -1.074 .283 -.049 -.056 -.055
Development
Organizational .064 .153 .022 .418 .676 .001 .022 .021
Culture
Organizational -.066 .069 -.049 -.964 .336 -.066 -.050 -.049
Structure
Work .313 .119 .136 2.627 .009 .141 .135 .134
Environment
Leadership .262 .141 .095 1.853 .065 .103 .095 .094
a. Dependent Variable: Police Misconduct
DISCUSSION
The discussion will be focused on the level of an organizational factor in general followed by organizational factors based on each of the five dimensions as well as a discussion on the level of police misconduct. Apart from that, the discussion continued towards the six research objectives listed in the research.
1. To Determine the Effect of Leadership Contributing to Police Misconduct
Next up, looking at the first research objective is to determine the effect of leadership contributing to police misconduct. The research outcome shows that there is a significant relationship between leadership towards police misconduct. The finding shows that the dimension of leadership has a great impact towards police misconduct. The result is supported by the finding of Kadir & Jusoff, (2009) who also found that there is a positive significant relationship between leadership towards police misconduct. The discovery also explains that the level of leadership in the police department is high and following it, police misconduct also is at a high level. Besides that, another finding shows there was a significant relationship between leadership towards police misconduct (Bakri et al., 2015). It is also seen that the leadership level of the higher officer could directly contribute towards police misconduct and the finding are also concurrent with the research of (Eitle et al., 2014). Overall, the
research outcome shows that the leadership dimension has a significant relationship towards police misconduct.
2. To Determine the Effect of Training and Development Contributing to Police Misconduct
Focusing next on the second research objective is to determine the effect of training and development contributing to police misconduct. The finding shows that there is no significant relationship between training and the development of police misconduct. This finding is very similar to the research finding of Rasdi (2018) who also found that there is no significant relationship between training and the development of police misconduct. The outcome shows that the training and development dimension could not able to contribute or influence police misconduct. Meanwhile, Shahrul et al. (2021) have a different outcome and do not support the current finding whereby, the study explains that there is a significant relationship between training and development on police misconduct. The finding shows that the better and more training and development process, the lesser will be the issues surrounding police misconduct. Besides that, Ahmad et al. (2018) in their studies found that police misconduct was not impacted by training and development as the training and development focuses more on core job skills and career advancement and less on the real-life situation of the officers. In conclusion, training and development have no significant relationship towards police misconduct.
3. To Determine the Effect of Organization Culture Contributing to Police Misconduct
The next research objective is to determine the effect of organizational culture contributing to police misconduct. The finding shows that there is a low positive relationship between organizational culture towards police misconduct. This finding shows that a strong organizational culture could help to bring down police misconduct and vice versa. This outcome is also parallel to the study of Shahrul et al. (2021) which also found that there is a low positive relationship between organizational culture towards police misconduct. The finding also comes to light that the organizational culture practice in the police department has a clear impact towards police misconduct. Apart from that, another finding also had the same finding as the current research that there is a low positive relationship between organizational culture towards police misconduct (Zakarani et al., 2021). Concluding the finding is that police misconduct can be impacted directly by the organizational culture in the police department.
4. To Determine the Effect of Organization Structure Contributing to Police Misconduct
The fourth research objective is focusing on determining the effect of organizational structure contributing to police misconduct. The finding of the research saw that organizational structure has no significant relationship and contribution towards police misconduct. This shows that the organizational structure could not affect police misconduct. This is also well aligned with the finding of research by Bahron & Lambin (2020) who found that there is no significant relationship between organizational structure and police misconduct. The research also explains that the organizational structure in the police department is very well organized and this will not impact police misconduct. Despite that, there is also research which is not aligned with the current research and found that there is a significant relationship between organizational structure and police misconduct (Zin et al., 2017). The research also explains that police misconduct is not impacted by how well or not the organizational structure is implemented. Overall, the research summarizes that the organizational structure has no significant relationship towards police misconduct.
5. To Determine the Effect of Work Environment Contributing to Police Misconduct
Next on is the fifth research objective which focuses on determining the effect of the work environment contributing to police misconduct. The finding of the research shows that the work environment has a significant contribution towards police misconduct. This finding is supported by the research of Tengpongsthorn (2017) which also said that there is a significant relationship between the work environment towards police misconduct. The work environment was seen as one of the strong dimensions of organizational factors that affect police misconduct. Apart from that, Reynolds
& Helfers (2019) also found that the work environment could contribute to police misconduct and explained that each workplace is different and the environment of the place has a big contribution towards any type of misconduct. Summarizing the finding shows that the dimension of the work environment has a strong relationship towards police misconduct.
6. To Determine Which Organizational Factor Contributes to Police Misconduct
The last and final research objective is to determine which organizational factors contribute to police misconduct. The overall finding shows that three dimensions have a significant relationship towards police misconduct which are leadership, organizational culture and the work environment. The finding is also well supported by the finding of Mann & Rawat (2021) explain in their research that there is a significant relationship between organizational culture and leadership towards police misconduct. Besides that, the research finding also found that the organizational culture is the dimension with the strongest relationship that will contribute towards police misconduct. The finding of the research is also in line with the study of (Virginia Rincón & Miguel González, 2014) which also saw organizational culture as the dimension that can impact police misconduct the most. Meanwhile, Bakhtiyari (2019) in the research found that the strongest dimension that has a significant relationship towards police misconduct is the leadership dimension. In overall. The finding concluded that the three dimensions of leadership, organizational culture and work environment have a significant relationship towards police misconduct and the organizational culture is the strongest dimension among it.
IMPLICATION OF STUDY
The major implication of this study is for police officers especially those in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to understand the current situation of police misconduct and how organizational factors affect police misconduct. Besides that, this will be a great finding for them as they can see and compare the situation of why and how is the level of police misconduct as well as to which factor the police misconduct has a close relationship. This will be also a good finding to help a police officer to realize the importance and the actual situation of police misconduct. Apart from that, the discovery of research also will assist police officers to value all the factors contributing towards police misconduct. Police officers also will gain a good knowledge of the thinking of their peers on the organizational factors and can value themselves based on the finding.
Next, the organizational factors that were underlined are leadership, training and development, organizational culture, organizational structure and work environment. The police department especially the higher authority could gather information from the result of the research to plan and improve the organizational dimension that is still lacking. For instance, training and development have no relationship towards police misconduct, thus by improving this part of the dimension, the level of police misconduct might decrease. The findings can be used to develop a specific intervention programme and as a reference for related research and policy development for police officers especially focusing on police misconduct.
In practice, it was extremely important for the top management of the Police Service to comprehend the factors that influence police misconduct in the police department in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to implement strategies to improve the performance of their duties. In order to put the findings of this study into action, various organizations, including Internal Security and others, gain knowledge of the factors that influence police misconduct in the police department. The study was extremely important for the general public, who frequently interacts with police officers to protect their safety and property, as it shed light on the factors that influence police behaviour. Theoretically, this study encourages other researchers to carry out a similar study in the same region to verify the validity of the findings or to carry out the study in other states to compare results. It also gave them a deeper understanding of the connection between other variables and police misconduct in the police service and provided them with relevant literature to use in their research.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Pertaining to the research, there were a few recommendations listed to improvise and improve future research based on the current research implementation.
a) The original study focused only on the selected police officer in two important states in the country, while the upcoming research could focus on other important states in the country or focuses on a selected region in the country.
b) Apart from that, the research also can be focused on certain states or police stations which have reported more police misconduct cases.
c) The study should also have widened up to police stations in outer areas or remote areas as well
d) Besides, the study can also be changed and focused on another type of police officer or one specific level of a police officer.
e) The study also could be improvised to a specific demographic of the police officer.
f) The independent variable can be also further improvised to other parts depending on the need of the current situation.
g) The current research adopts the quantitative style while the future study could engage with qualitative especially to use interview sessions with the respondents to have more answers based on open-ended questions and opinions.
h) The use of another type of research such as fact-finding or observation could also be adopted.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the study focused on five independent variables of leadership, training and development, organizational culture, organizational structure and work environment while the dependent variable is the police misconduct among police officers. The overall result on leadership, training and development, organizational culture, organizational structure and work environment are all at a high level while the police misconduct level is also at a high level. The result also found that three variables, namely leadership, organizational culture and work environment have a significant relationship towards police misconduct. The result also found that the independent variable that has the most impact and significant relationship towards police misconduct is the organizational culture.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My special gratitude is addressed to my PhD supervisor, Prof. Dr. Muhamad Ali Embi who help bring out the ideas of this research and always encourages the author in completing this research. Special thanks to Ghazali Shafie Graduate School of Government (GSGSG), Universiti Utara Malaysia which assists me in my PhD journey.
REFERENCES
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