Rural–Urban Dynamics of Police Corruption: Views of Ghanaian Police Officers

Police corruption referring to police officers’ use or misuse of authority for private or organisational gain is a major obstacle to effective policing globally. The effect of police corruption is particularly grave in rural areas due to the remoteness of rural areas, inadequate frontline supervision, and people in rural areas being largely poor. Evidence shows that corruption denies people in rural areas of justice and contributes to increasing poverty levels. Despite the effect of police corruption in rural areas, studies hardly consider the rural–urban dynamics and perspectives. Addressing this gap, the current study explores the causes of corruption from the perspectives of police officers working in rural and urban areas. The study uses survey data from 616 Ghanaian police officers, which is analysed using proportions, correlations, and regression. Results show that the area where police officers work influences what factors they perceive as causes of corruption: officers working in rural areas are less likely to regard economic factors and institutional (in)actions as causes of police corruption. Also, officers’ gender is an important determinant of factors that are considered causes of corruption irrespective of whether they work in a rural or urban area. The results suggest that for anti-corruption policies addressing causes of police corruption to be effective, measures must factor in the rural–urban dynamics as different factors are regarded as causes of corruption among police officers working in rural and urban areas.