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
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The first form is the external form which includes activities that occur from and through police contacts with the public such as gratuities and payoffs. The second form is the internal form which involves the relationships among police officers within the workings of the police department. This form includes payments in order to join the police force, in order to get better shifts or assignments, and to receive promotions. Ellwyn Stoddard, who coined the term blue-coat crime, described several different forms of deviant practices among both police and citizens such as mooching, chiseling, favoritism, prejudice, bribery, shakedown, perjury, and premeditated theft. The code of silence means keeping quiet in the face of misconduct by other officers. More than 75 percent of the officers surveyed said that they would not report another officer for taking money from a prisoner, nor would they testify against an officer accused by a …show more content…
People put their trust in these officers. They trust them to protect and serve our communities. People shouldn’t have to fear their policemen. Police corruption makes the whole department look bad. That 's unfair to the policemen who are obeying the rules and respecting their other policemen as well. It 's also unfair to other policemen because if the whole department is being looked at negatively just because of a few bad apples then the good ones are the ones paying the price.
There are many possible solutions for police corruption. Departments should really consider not hiring dishonorable and unscrupulous individuals. There is also the obvious need for an honest and effective police administration, as well as the necessity to train recruits on the need for a corruption-free department. This means that the people in charge of hiring those who can potentially be corrupt, must be reliable and honest themselves. Lastly, there should be some type of reward for the honest police officers. Applying the concept of positive reinforcement to reward the officers who are doing
The first form is the external form which includes activities that occur from and through police contacts with the public such as gratuities and payoffs. The second form is the internal form which involves the relationships among police officers within the workings of the police department. This form includes payments in order to join the police force, in order to get better shifts or assignments, and to receive promotions. Ellwyn Stoddard, who coined the term blue-coat crime, described several different forms of deviant practices among both police and citizens such as mooching, chiseling, favoritism, prejudice, bribery, shakedown, perjury, and premeditated theft. The code of silence means keeping quiet in the face of misconduct by other officers. More than 75 percent of the officers surveyed said that they would not report another officer for taking money from a prisoner, nor would they testify against an officer accused by a …show more content…
People put their trust in these officers. They trust them to protect and serve our communities. People shouldn’t have to fear their policemen. Police corruption makes the whole department look bad. That 's unfair to the policemen who are obeying the rules and respecting their other policemen as well. It 's also unfair to other policemen because if the whole department is being looked at negatively just because of a few bad apples then the good ones are the ones paying the price.
There are many possible solutions for police corruption. Departments should really consider not hiring dishonorable and unscrupulous individuals. There is also the obvious need for an honest and effective police administration, as well as the necessity to train recruits on the need for a corruption-free department. This means that the people in charge of hiring those who can potentially be corrupt, must be reliable and honest themselves. Lastly, there should be some type of reward for the honest police officers. Applying the concept of positive reinforcement to reward the officers who are doing