Reforming Police Corruption There are three parts to the criminal justice system: police, courts, and corrections. Each part has at least one aspect that is in need of reform, but this paper will focus on the police. More specifically, police corruption is a tremendous issue in the criminal justice system. There are two kinds of corrupt police officers: grass eaters and meat eaters. Grass eaters are police officers accept bribes (Dejong, Cole, & Smith, 2018). Meat eaters are police officers who are much more aggressive and abuse their power (Dejong, Cole, & Smith, 2018). This kind of police corruption needs to be reformed because it affects society as well as police credibility, and it is entirely possible to implement the interventions mentioned
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The police are seen as the most corrupt government institutions (Gutierrez-Garcia & Rodríguez, 2016). Police corruption is an issue because it reduces credibility not only for police, but the entire criminal justice system. Citizens and communities have less trust in officers, only making policing more challenging. Another reason it is an issue is because it can lead to police taking money forcefully from citizen, even if it results in death. An example of this is shown in Nigeria, the police use firearms to extort money from the public, taking the money for their own personal use (Aremu, Pakes, & Johnston, 2011). A final reason police corruption is a large issue is the illegal drug use of police officers. This kind of corruption is hard to detect, and greatly affects police integrity. An officer who engages in illegal drug use themselves may be inefficient when it comes to enforcing laws against illegal drug sale/use (Gorta, 2009). Police corruption negatively impacts communities and the criminal justice system, which is why it needs to be …show more content…
One way is to increase the emotional intelligence of police officers. Emotional intelligence is related to social intelligence, it is a person’s ability to be self-aware and socially aware (e.g., empathy and motivation). This is important for an officer to have because it changes their attitude toward corruption (Aremu, Pakes, & Johnston, 2011). Another way to reform police corruption is to increase their perceived risk of getting caught using drugs. A way to do this is to increase the use of random drug testing among officers (Gorta, 2009). A third way to reform police corruption is to train officers in ways that will deter future corrupt police officers. For example, being straightforward and teaching officers what is right and wrong in certain situations to avoid corruption. Another example of this is to teach officers to be proud to be a lawful police officer; police officers that are proud to be a part of law enforcement are less likely to be corrupt (Gutierrez-Garcia & Rodríguez, 2016). A final way to reform police corruption is to create a warning system for police officers. If a certain police officers has multiple complaints from citizens about their misbehavior, they should be given a warning, and if they keep compiling complaints it can result in job termination and possibly arrest (Gutierrez-Garcia & Rodríguez, 2016). All of these reformations, if implemented, could be valuable in reducing
The police are seen as the most corrupt government institutions (Gutierrez-Garcia & Rodríguez, 2016). Police corruption is an issue because it reduces credibility not only for police, but the entire criminal justice system. Citizens and communities have less trust in officers, only making policing more challenging. Another reason it is an issue is because it can lead to police taking money forcefully from citizen, even if it results in death. An example of this is shown in Nigeria, the police use firearms to extort money from the public, taking the money for their own personal use (Aremu, Pakes, & Johnston, 2011). A final reason police corruption is a large issue is the illegal drug use of police officers. This kind of corruption is hard to detect, and greatly affects police integrity. An officer who engages in illegal drug use themselves may be inefficient when it comes to enforcing laws against illegal drug sale/use (Gorta, 2009). Police corruption negatively impacts communities and the criminal justice system, which is why it needs to be …show more content…
One way is to increase the emotional intelligence of police officers. Emotional intelligence is related to social intelligence, it is a person’s ability to be self-aware and socially aware (e.g., empathy and motivation). This is important for an officer to have because it changes their attitude toward corruption (Aremu, Pakes, & Johnston, 2011). Another way to reform police corruption is to increase their perceived risk of getting caught using drugs. A way to do this is to increase the use of random drug testing among officers (Gorta, 2009). A third way to reform police corruption is to train officers in ways that will deter future corrupt police officers. For example, being straightforward and teaching officers what is right and wrong in certain situations to avoid corruption. Another example of this is to teach officers to be proud to be a lawful police officer; police officers that are proud to be a part of law enforcement are less likely to be corrupt (Gutierrez-Garcia & Rodríguez, 2016). A final way to reform police corruption is to create a warning system for police officers. If a certain police officers has multiple complaints from citizens about their misbehavior, they should be given a warning, and if they keep compiling complaints it can result in job termination and possibly arrest (Gutierrez-Garcia & Rodríguez, 2016). All of these reformations, if implemented, could be valuable in reducing