Police Corruption In The Police Force

What Is Police Corruption? Police corruption is considered by many a form of police officer misconduct. Police corruption is where law enforcement officers break the social contract and abuse their power for personal gain. Police Corruption may involve profit or another type of material benefit that is gained illegally as a result of the officer’s authority. Some of the more typical forms of corruption involve: bribery, extortion, receiving stolen goods, selective enforcement, and sometimes selling drugs. Law enforcement officers will have a magnitude of opportunities to gain personally from their status and authority of being an officer of the law. Corruption is a nationwide problem and has been a problem since the beginning of law enforcement …show more content…
The way corruption affects the social aspect, is by one corrupt officer in a department that generates an overall distrust of the whole police department (aka Rotten Apple Theory). This social aspect then portrays a negative outlook on the police force of the community because citizens then develop the mentality of us versus them, about law enforcement officers. The political effect that corruption involves is that of civilian involvement and top-down discipline state legislature demands that the police department be scrutinized and have polices to be corrected. This can involve but is not limited to replacing corrupt officers, change of mid-level leadership, or even the resignation of the department chief. The social effects of corruption are that of general distrust of the law enforcement throughout the community, rotten apple theory (which states that one bad cop ruins the entire department), and reduced effectiveness by undermining the entire justice system altogether. The economic effects of police corruption are that of new officer training and investigations into officers (Drug Policy Alliance, …show more content…
This task of filing a complaint against an officer of misconduct, you would need to bring all your evidence with you, Due to the fact that you are accusing one of their own of misconduct. The next step would be the intake stage where, a higher ranking officer would take your complaint and do a preliminary review of your complaint. This officer will see if the allegation is non- minor or minor (if the complaint is minor your complaint is not seriously considered). These are all the steps that I would need to take being a civilian. From this point on the complaint is being handled by the authorities. I would only need to be available for questioning or court proceedings only with my attorney present of course. I would also ensure that the complaint is being handled and taken seriously. If I would feel like my complaint was just dismissed without investigation I would then go to the person above the police department and report the incident to