Police Corruption

Superior Essays
Police: persons whose responsibility is to enforce laws; usually the term used for the city or municipal officers, as opposed to county deputies (Peak, 2015). The duty of a police officer is to protect, serve and maintain order of the public. They are the ones to call for when there is an emergency or for a civil matter. Policing is a difficult job, it is physically, mentally and emotionally draining. Law enforcement officer are given a great amount of authority to make find solutions to problems and keep the community safe, while being unsupervised.
However, having too much authority can change a person, for the worse. So, that leaves room to wonder, who is maintaining the order of the police? Or preventing and detecting whether they are
…show more content…
The meat-eaters are extremely aggressive and use their power for personal gain. These are the most dangerous corrupted officers because they will do anything to keep the power that they have over an individual or community. The grass-eaters just take the payoffs given to them on the scene, like a baggie of cocaine or a wad of money.
Why do officers decide to behave in this manner? There are many reasons officers participate in corruption. To begin with, bribery and justification play a role in their decision. Second reason is because of political influence. Third, political standing, officers enforce or not enforce any law to strengthen their political standing. Also, the nature of work, seeing honest people break the laws also influence officers into corruption. It’s pretty much saying “if they did it and they’re higher rank or a politician, my actions will go unnoticed as
…show more content…
Civilians suffer because they are the victims of law enforcement officers who abuse their power. The community starts to mistrust the criminal justice system itself because justice is not being served when someone commits a crime. The department suffers because their reputation will be tainted, they must deal with investigations and potentially face consequences (stricter policies, be under an eagle eye). It is unfortunate that one officer is able to ruin the reputation of one department, especially when they are high in rank. They have the leadership role, rookie cops and others will not a have a problem following that one person. So, whomever that officer(s) from that department approaches the recipient will be in defense mode. Finally, the economy is affected by corruption because police officers will have to under training immediately and their budget will be dented. If new programs are implanted, the funds will be coming from the department’s budget. .Also, investigations and litigation are

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The book “Blue Blood” by Edward Conlon was a very well written book expressing his experiences as being a cop. I really liked this book although at times it was a little hard to follow because of its stories within stories, however it was very enjoyable. I loved how Edward was writing of his experiences while he was still working, for example a lot of people would just recollect their experiences but Edward was writing while it was happening. Which is much better for accuracy and detail of events.…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Noble Cause Violation

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Mamadou Diallo May 20, 2018 Professor Sham PSC 321 Final essay As the law enforcement code of ethics states” as a law enforcement officer my fundamental duty is to server mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder, and to respect the…

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Corruption is a dire issue facing the US today. The most prominent corruption of them all would be the Police Officers who think they’re above the law and who like to kill innocent people in their spare time. Those corrupt cops is what feeds the media’s fire and quenches their thirst with blood that is on the officer's hands. Of course there’s other types of corruption in the police force today such as law breaking, fraud, taking things that are not theirs and unnecessary violence. The one that makes the most impact on society would be the officers who think they’re above the law and I for one think they should be stopped at once.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is major corruption occurring in the police departments. Although all officers are not corrupt; they are often found guilty of violations of their code of conduct. The violations they are normally found guilty of are bribery, theft, perjury, extortion, and selective enforcement. In 2010, it was reported that 4,861 incidents of misconduct were tracked. Also, there were 247 fatalities that occurred in 2010 that was related to the tracked reports…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Law enforcement have several different levels from local, military, and federal. No matter which level of law enforcement is achieved an officer or agent has ethics that must be up held. However, the police subculture may contend the high standards that are viewed by the public. Therefore, law enforcement deviance whether accepted in police subculture or not is wrong. Law enforcement officers have a large amount of discretion while preforming their duties, the officers’ integrity must be paramount when making a decision.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This would include greater focus on each applicant’s integrity recruitment phase (background checks, integrity tests, and polygraph tests) as well as providing more anti-corruption and ethics training at the academy (White, 2014). Police corruptions is not just a problem in America’s police system it is a world wide problem. Police department are trying to find ways to prevent it and to stop it. There seems that there is no easy fix, but with the exception of a few bad apples the majority of police officers is honest and does the right thing.…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Walter Nagle Chapter 13. Ethics & Corruption While doing research on a few articles on corruption, I have come across police corruption and decided to talk about this specific article I have pulled up. First, I want to explain what Police Corruption is. Police corruption is a form of police misconduct in which law enforcement officers break their social contract and abuse their power for personal or department gain. This type of corruption can involve only one officer, or it can involve a group of officers in a coordinated effort.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Corruption In Policing

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Corruption in policing is using valid discretion for the wrong reasons such as personal or financial gain. Breaking the law in order to uphold the law is also corruption. Several possible explanations to why corruption occurs have been identified. One of these explanations is police personality. Pursuing a career in law enforcement can be attractive to individuals with common socioeconomic backgrounds.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police Officer Discretion

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Police officers have the ability to decide if and when it is appropriate to not enforce the law. In some situations, police officers are faced with a situation that may require them to not enforce the law, in others it is absolutely necessary to enforce it to the fullest extent. This allows for the governmental advantages, being allowed to decide when and where the law shall be followed. This also allows for law enforcement officers to be in a position of power and could eventually lead up to blackmail for personal gain. This cannot be taken to for because there is a relationship between ethics and discretion that must be respected.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Issues In Policing

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages

    What Are the Issues in Policing? Policing has been around for a very long time in society. Policing is simply the duties and tasks that police officers have to perform to maintain law and order in communities. Polices perform such duties as traffic control, criminal investigation, keeping peace, and other helpful services to citizens. Over time, policing has changed tremendously and has had a great effect on today’s society.…

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hello Jessica, there are many reasons why police officers are corrupt. I also agree with you that it will depend on the law enforcement officers and their agencies. That is true that some police departments did not require their recruits to have a psychiatric exam. My opinion is that the number one reason for corruption is lack of training. There is also pressure from other police officers if you are a recruit you are trying to fit in, so you are following along with the other officers.…

    • 107 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Prenzler (2013) claims that “Government that operate police departments and set the general direction for policing strategies need to be fairly elected and consultative, so that the policing policy framework is representative and balances community concerns wherever possible” (p. 60). The second point was police remain in the subject of law. For example, if police officer commit breaches of administrative or regulator law, they should be charged and punished when found guilty. Furthermore, if there was evidences that police have committed criminal offences they should be charged the same as any citizen. Another important aspect of the legal accountability of police is judicial examination in the courts.…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police Misconduct Thesis

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Research Topic: The affects of corruption and misconduct Research Thesis Statement: Misconduct within in the police department contributes to how police officers operate on the frontline which causes corruption within the community. Research Reasons Based on: “Police Quotas, Reclassification of Police Reports, and Stop and Frisk” (five videos) Sometimes as a society we tend to only look at the small picture, when in all actuality we need to take a look at the bigger picture.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police corruption is a form of police misconduct in which law enforcement officers, such as police, break their social contract and abuse their power for personal or department gain. "For a corrupt act to occur, three distinct elements of police corruption must be present simultaneously: 1) misuse of authority, 2) misuse of official capacity, and 3) misuse of personal attainment" (PoliceCrimes.com, 2004). Police corruption is one of oldest and most persistent problem in American policing. Although it has a broad definition, it can mean any major form of police wrongdoing and improper behavior. There are several factors that can contribute to police corruption including rapid hiring of personnel, civil service and union protections that make…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some officers are trained to perform special duties such as counter terrorism, surveillance, child protection, VIP protection, and investigation techniques such as fraud, rape, murder, and drug trafficking. Police officers and detectives have many similarities and differences within their occupation. Police officers occupation includes, enforcing laws, responding to emergency and nonemergency…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics