Police Force Corruption

There are many forms of police and correctional officer corruption, that affects not only the effectiveness of our criminal justice system; but also society. Police corruption can be best explained as actions which “exploit the powers of law enforcement in return for considerations of private-regarding benefit and that violate formal standards governing his or her conduct” (Arrigo & Williams, 2012). Corrupt acts can consist of: corruption of authority, kickbacks, opportunistic theft, shakedowns, fixes, protection of illegal activities and direct criminal activities. In any order or fashion, all of the above mentioned is unethical and in many cases illegal (Arrigo & Williams, 2012). As for correctional officer corruption, it can share many of the same characteristics as for policing. Instead of external, correctional officer corruption is in most cases internal; which is notable difference between the two (Arrigo & Williams, 2012).

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

One city beside New York that comes to mind when dealing with police corruption is the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD has been dealing with police corruption for a very long time, through racism and police brutality. One of their most notable corrupted endeavor was when seventy officers in the Rampart division faced claims of planting drugs and guns, beating suspects in custody and even shooting innocent citizens in gang sweeps. Former officer Rafael Perez agreed to a plea bargaining after being caught stealing cocaine from the evidence room. Perez discuss an incident when he and his former partner shot an innocent man during gang raid and planted a gun on him. Due to these incidents over a hundred criminal convictions were overturned.

Corruption within the New York Police Department is a quickly growing phenomenon; to an extent, this is largely due to the cop culture that encourages silence and draws the line at honesty. The good, honest officers are afraid to speak up against co-workers and in the process become corrupt themselves. When police departments were first established in the mid-nineteenth century, corruption quickly followed suit. It began with minor acts of misconduct and today deals with serious criminal activities. Scholars have noted that there is a strong correlation between the officers taking part in corrupt acts and officers wanting to fit in with the culture. In this paper, I argue that the deeper an officer in the New York police department gets into the police culture, the more likely it is that they become involved in narcotic corruption

Copland is a crime movie about the corruption of police in New York city. It all started with one incident with a officer who shot two African American teens because he felt threatened. This resulted in other officers bad decisions and ultimately ended some people's lives. The way they resolved these problems was by one sheriffs good intentions and investigation skills. It brought to justice the wrong doings of these police. When he did want to do something about it he decided to go to Internal Affairs investigator, but was pushed away because he didn't say anything when he was first asked about it.

Police corruption has been an issue that has left a lasting blemish on communities and society. Police corruption usually derives a lack of respect officer(s) feel that either the city does not care about them or they are not paid enough for their duties. Throughout this essay I will give you a better understanding on the issue that is police corruption by using terminology from the book such as the “rotten apple theory”, “blue wall of silence” and “deviant subculture”. With corruption this affects the view we have on police and it is up to us not fall into the trap of negativity and create a better society for the future.

Chapter 8 discusses police corruption. Even though the overall majority of Americans have a positive opinion of law enforcement officer, corruption does happen in police departments just has it does in every other industry in the United States. No business is completely immune to corruption. In chapter 9 the authors of the text write about the court system. In particular, the chapter talks about the criminal court system. The criminal courts consist of the judge, the prosecutor, who is the attorney that represents the state and defendant along with his/her attorney. Chapter 10 discusses the how a trial works. First, will the trial actually occur, or will the defendant accepts would is called a “plea bargain.”

For years, we have considered any discussions of police misconduct as taboo. After all, these are the men and woman in which we, as citizens, give the responsibility of keeping us out of harms way. We all know it is present within law enforcement in some shape or form, but we ignore its relevance in the way our criminal justice system works. Assumptions of police misconduct and corruption have long been suppressed and silenced through false litigation and system betrayal. The silencing or ignorance of police misconduct acts a strengthening mechanism which those, who engage in this type of behaviour, use as a motivational tool. It is becoming a popular belief that

This may appear at first glance to be a matter of such a fundamental nature as not to deserve specific mention in an agency policy. Certainly, police officers are as subject to the law as any other person. But reality dictates and history has shown that some officers, whether through misguided zeal or for other reasons, may come to view themselves and their police colleagues as exempt from the law on a general, selective, or situational basis. This element of the policy is intended to stress the importance of the rule of law for all officers and to hold each officer accountable for any legal wrongdoing. (para. 4)

In Edwin J. Deltarres' book Character and Cops he explores three hypotheses for police corruption in the United States. Some are somewhat historical, but they are still relevant to the problem of corruption today. The first hypothesis is called "the society at-large" theory by former Chicago Police Superintendent O. W. Wilson. Wilson was superintendent of the Chicago Police Department during the early nineteen sixties. The second hypothesis is called the "structural" theory. The third is called "the rotten apple theory." I will provide a brief analysis of the three hypotheses in this essay and examine which one(s) is valid today.

Police corruption has been something which has been going on in the U.S for quite a long time. It’s been something we hear or see on the news since we were children and we are continuing to see it even our modern daily lives today. The most Common forms of police corruption we hear every day are theft of money and stolen drugs.

One major way to reduce and prevent police corruption is to have a more efficient Internal Affairs division. The job of this agency is to uncover illegal and unethical practices performed by the police. (Bohm, Haley, 2012). However, there are still many cases of corrupt activities and police in the system. If this division was more proactive the occurrence of these activities would decrease drastically. At many places of employment, there are random drug tests and searches. Files are sporadically gone through and employees are closely monitored by their supervisors. Why aren’t these same practices being done to the people that are expected to save us and prevent crime from our streets? I work for a used clothing store and we are videotaped

Do you know how many cops turns corrupt every year? Also do you know how much money the corrupted cops receive from criminals every year? Between April of 2009 and June of 2010 6,724 of corrupted cops. The average amount that corrupted cops receive are from a few thousand to 3.3 million the most recorded. “There are more than 900,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States“.

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

study conducted by researchers at the Institute for the Rule of Law from 2002-2006. The researchers noticed a sharp rise in economic crimes and a large deficient between the amounts of economic criminal cases initiated and amounts of cases sent to court. They found that in those years, 40%-60% of economic criminal cases went unresolved. In the cases that were solved, 60%-80% of them were never brought to court. Of the cases that were brought to court, 20%-30% fell apart. The researchers concluded that law enforcement officials were less inclined to punish economic criminals because it would have impacted their shadow economy earnings.