Police Corruption

Tiller Russell’s enthralling film “The Seven Five” is shameful yet engaging that it gives a valuable lesson. The documentary focuses on the occurrences in the 75th precinct of East New York during the dark days of the 1980s and the true-crime deeds of Michael Dowd, a corrupt officer, through interviews with Dowd himself, investigators, Dowd’s partners, and drug dealers. Joined the New York Police Department in 1982 when he was 20 years old, Michael Dowd became a patrol officer for 10 years and 5 months, and within that decade, he confessed into using his authority to commit crimes and acts of corruption in violation of his sworn duty to uphold the law.

In Joycelyn M. Pollock’s Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice, she quotes that police corruption is “acting on opportunities created by virtue of one 's authority, for personal gain at the expense of the public one is authorized to serve" (Cohen, 1986). Some examples of corruption that Barker (1994) have listed are: corruption of authority (gratuities), kickbacks, opportunistic theft, shakedowns, protection of illegal activities, fixes (quashing tickets), direct criminal activities, and internal payoffs. Fyfe and Kane (2006) argue the case that in some situations when police officers commit crime, it can’t be called corruption if the criminal act is being committed off duty. They are just criminals who happen to be cops and being a cop has no

Police in America began as the night watch system that protected cities from crime, fire, and disorder. Of course early policing was influenced by the British, and so was American Law which derived from English common law. This would also form a correlation to American policing policies that diverged from the English’s Magna Carta and as well the French. The French established a centralized government that entailed men to take an oath of loyalty. The police in America started as night watch groups, then employment changed to police officers being political appointed which was very corrupted, but throughout the years things changed again to serve the public. Instead of a political selected police force that earns it’s pay through bribes and

Police corruption contributes to the misuse of police powers because it involves the use of favoritism, bribery, shakedown, and perjury. Police corruption can be caused from discretion, low managerial visibility, low public visibility, and politics. Police officers are given a wide range of discretion on how to handle situations and that often leads to the abuse of power. Also, managers are not always watching over the officer’s shoulder to ensure that the right thing is being done, and the public does not often see the actions of the police. Which means they can get away with a lot of wrongful actions. Politics can create corruption in policing because politics can affect hiring standards, promotions, discipline, and adequate budget. There have been instances where a political leader would tell management who they want to be promoted. That is wrong because promotions should be dependent on your work ability, not because of political influence. There is also external corruption that will convince the officer to engage in payoffs and gratuities. For example: drug dealers would give police officers a percentage of their profit so that they can continue to sell and not go to jail. (Locke, 1996)

In order for a Police agency to prevent and deter Police misconduct, there must be a definition to what actions and behaviors that the term will encompass. The term ‘police corruption’ has been used to describe many activities: bribery; violence and brutality; fabrication and destruction of evidence; racism; favoritism or nepotism. Many different scholars differ in their own examples of the definition. Before attempting to the question of whether a precise definition is possible, it is worth examining the range of activities that might be included within a broad discussion of corruption. In (Bayley and Perito, 2011), it is defined as police corruption is a contested phrase with narrow and broad meanings. Narrowly

New Orleans has been a city where millions of tourist go and experience a variety of cultures. Many tourist find that the city’s gentle, slow, and easy-going way of life is intoxicating and continue to return year after year. Thus New Orleans has been dubbed with the iconic nickname “The Big Easy”. However, behind the veil, New Orleans police officers have been committing countless felonies and has been described as

Police corruption can also be explained by the lack of protection and security police feel they have. They also feel like they are being disrespected by individuals in society, which is why they rely on the subculture for protection and support (Skolnick, 1966). The police subculture has created a lot of secrecy within the organization, which contributes to police misconduct. Police officers will often ignore another police officer’s corrupt actions in order to maintain a good reputation within the subculture (Tator & Henry, 2006). For example, 84% of police officers have directly witnessed another officer using more force than necessary out on the streets (US Department of Justice, 2017). However, instead of reporting the acts of others, 52%

Corruption has always been a danger to law enforcement, just as it has been a danger to all of mankind since the beginning of time. Since the very first police agency was formed in the 1800s, corruption has been widespread. The 19th century was an era in which politics played a very large role in police forces. Various political parties essentially had some police departments in their pockets, and as long as officers served to further those political parties’ agendas, the officers’ continued employment was guaranteed. Since politicians have not always been known for being straight-laced, one can easily see how corruption within police departments became prevalent. Since officers were not serving the people, but rather the political elite, their motives were constantly in question. It was not long before politicians began employing police officers to overlook and even protect their illicit activities. Through this practice, officers began to see the potential monetary and political benefits of allowing and participating in certain illegal actions. Even after the establishment of countermeasures such as police commissions, civil service exams, and legislative changes, corruption remained rampant. This corruption was perhaps best exemplified by none other than the actions of many officers within the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.

When it comes to police corruption there are so much police misuse being conducted as police being officers they take their a police authority that they have a police officer and just misuse the power that they have. When it comes to police corruption the actions that the officers have they use it inappropriately as not as they should but as personal gain. When police officers uses their power as personal gain the actions good and bad behavior when it comes to the officers. Just thinking about police corruption and how they use and mistreat but that is one of the misconducts for a law enforcement officer. There are two kinds of abuses and they are abuse of authority and occupational deviance. Where occupational deviance is the deviant behavior

From the first police station built in Boston to what is today's modern police force there has always been corruption inside the criminal justice system, whether it be something as little as a small bribe to look the other way, or something more serious like getting away with a major offense. The department of justice has had trouble from top to bottom with corruption and it has proven to be a difficult problem to fix. When policing in the U. S. were just starting out corruption and law bending was more prevalent but harder to see which Police officers who were following the rules and who was bending the law in their own favor to gain an advantage for themselves rather than looking out for the community as a whole. This is because when policing first started out there were limited officers, which meant less word of mouth and less people to respond to and

Police corruption is one of the ethical issues affecting law enforcement officers. Corruption is defined as “impairment of integrity, virtue or moral principle; inducement to do wrong by improper or unlawful means” (Merriam Webster Online, 2009). While the most recognizable form of corruption involves officers taking money for favors (bribery), the actions that are considered corruption include filing false police reports, harassment of any person due to sex, race, creed, religion, national origin or sexual orientation, and failure to protect the rights of citizens. Corruption exists in all levels of law enforcement.

The cases that are mostly seen worldwide with police corruption are due to drugs and drug trafficking. Police officers get involved with the “easy money” and believe the theory of “I will not get caught”; it is miserable and emotional to see the United States law enforcement get caught up in these cases. “In 2012, two corrupt cops joined forces with drug dealers and are now facing jail time; they put dozens of criminal cases in jeopardy. Officers Diaz and Patrick Mara admitted to ripping off drug dealers of their methamphetamine during traffic stops. This was the beginning to police corruption in Kern County.”(Richard Winton) The two police officers were corrupt since a while back. “They both pleaded guilty to their charge and got punished for it. Officer Diaz would not fully report the drugs they would find and instead would keep more than half. Officer Mara was caught selling methamphetamine to other individuals.” (Diaz and Mara admitted) Other cases they were involved in are now put under jeopardy and could possibly be missed charged. Cops should not allow such horrific thing to occur. If they know about a corrupt cop they should immediately report it. People and younger

Another appeal we see in both parties is to our sense of authority. In many communities, police are considered beacons of hope and justice. However, these articles question that. Those that feel police corruption is not present are keeping the beacon lit another day. Those that feel police corruption is present are hesitant to keep the beacon lit. This hesitancy isn’t purposeful, rather, it is an effect of looking into police corruption. If we question their authority, or what they do with that authority, we aren’t protecting the beacon anymore. The locals of Manitowoc County are keeping that beacon lit, because they believe that Steven Avery and Brenden Dassey are guilty of the crimes. However, those that side with the stance the documentary

that they should not have to deal with is when a situation comes up with one of their

Has one ever wondered what happens when a complaint is filed on a police officer? One may feel that the officer will be monitored closely based on the accusations in the complaint. On the other hand, one may argue that police officers are protected by the blue wall code of silence and the complaints that are filed against officers due to police misconduct are often overlooked. Ferdik, Rojek and Alpert (2013) stated, “police misconduct and corruption have the potential to erode the public’s trust and confidence in both policing and government agencies” (). To ensure that police officers are upholding law enforcement professional image, private citizens have proposed that we conduct citizen oversight review board to review, investigate and take action on complaints to reduce police wrong doing. Some may ask, “what is a benefit and drawback of citizen oversight review boards? The benefit of having a citizen review board is to bring issues in law enforcement to the forefront. Nolen (2012) stated, “all Law enforcement officers are not bad, but in any organization you have a few that will step outside the lines and feel they need to act aggressive, which in some cases is not necessary." (Nolen, 2012). Although having a citizen oversight review board may bring awareness to corruption, some individuals may feel that the private citizens who are hired in these organizations are not qualified. For example, a citizen review board may consist of law abiding citizens who lacks the knowledge, the education and the experience of the criminal justice field. An individual who has experience or education in criminal justice may wonder how could one choose to suspend, convict or terminate a police officer of their employment if one lacks the understanding of the criminal justice system. Accountability for one’s actions, the supervision of Law Enforcement, and the compatibility between police officer and the public are three reasons why I feel that citizen oversight review boards are beneficial.