Pragmizing Police 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).

Reforming recruit training is the most common response among police agencies attempting to deal with corruption. There is, in this regard, a straightforward link between training, competence and malpractice/corruption. Straightforwardly, the better officers are at using legitimate means, the less they will need to have recourse to illegitimate ones. Police agencies that train their officers, and provide them with the resources they require to achieve the goals of the job legitimately should find that its officers are less likely to fall into corruption or misconduct.

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

Veronica and I decided that one of the best criminal justice issues to research would have to be police corruption because everyone has experienced some form of police corruption in their lives. Even if they do not know it, due to the fact that they do not have the education level to understand what police corruption is. From a legal perspective police corruption has to do with the violation of law by police officers. According to some articles it claims that police corruption has to do with deviant, improper, dishonest, unethical or criminal behavior by the police officer. The research question has to do with police corruption and where it comes from, by the standing point of the community. We feel that this issue is important because, without

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.”

One of the issues that are affecting the future of policing is corruption. Corruption is generally defined as fraudulent and dishonest actions by public officials with power. This is the same for law enforcement as their corruption is an abuse of their authority for private gain while under duty. This improper conduct usually begins as police deviance. Law enforcement officers with such behaviors are not socially accepted yet has led other officers, especially rookies, into engaging in criminal activities.

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.

This essay aims to provide the reader with an in depth analysis as to what is police corruption, the ethical dilemmas that police face and what is the nature and causes of police corruption from both a national and international perspective. This essay will also provide the reader with an in-depth analysis as to what is police accountability and why it is needed and upon conclusion, this essay will also provide the reader with strategies for managing police integrity.

We have many concerns about having one entity providing all law enforcement in the United States. The separation of power throughout the task force could cause corruption. A single Chief of police could potentially have more power than the President of the United States. They can look over certain crimes, hire biasedly, and be politically active which, can cause even more corruption. If we had a national police force, our taxes would go to other counties with higher crime rates such as Detroit or Memphis instead of going to our own country. This new police force would change the way our country handles crime, the local police now, know what areas to patrol and have a chance to stop potential crimes but with a national force wherever the crime

I know for a fact this is going to be difficult but police agency needs to steady people and get to know them really well before hiring them for the job. They should know everything about the people they’re hiring before hiring them. According to Controlling Police Corruption (no date) “The first step is to hire police officers of good character, which is difficult for a number of reasons. Officers are human. Giving a person the kind of power a policeman has can overwhelm one. It is predictable what can happen, as history illustrates so well. What is unpredictable with any kind of reliability is what will happen to a given individual. That is the problem, because that is ideal information to know. It is predictable that some officers will be corrupt. It is also predictable that a large majority will do the job they were hired to do, and do it

I think this movie shows unmoral and corrupt police work. It is about a narcotics detective for the LAPD named Alonzo Harris and his job is to train rookie Jake Hoyt. There are many scenes during the movie which questions Jake to follow Alonzo and his ways of being a police officer. When first meeting each other for the first time Jake goes on to tell a story about a dangerous stop he made in the past. Alonzo makes it out that he has seen so much in his career and this story doesn’t impress him. This was the first time Jake and Alonzo and Alonzo was already trying to find corrupt things about Jake Hoyts. At first, we wonder if Alonzo is putting on a show to test the rookie. The rookie (Jake Hoyt) seems to be pressured into acts cops should

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