Serpico

Chicago has had its share of police corruption and scandals throughout the city’s history. Officials always vowing that corruption will never happen. One of the corruption cases that caught my attention was about Joseph Miedzianowski. According to NewOne, Joseph Miedzianowski is ranked number 4 as the most corrupt cop in the U.S. of all time. Joseph Miedzianowski was a Chicago police officer for 22 years. He served as a police officer and a drug kingpin shaking down drug dealers. He also ran Chicago’s gang unit and his own gang dealing drugs (NewsOne. 2011).

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.

Many factors contributed to the huge scope of police corruption in the Miami River Cops case. Those factors included; corrupt leadership, personal greed, and crimes that made it easy to look the other way. In a candid talk with his arresting officer, corrupt police officer Osvaldo Coello admitted that he became corrupt largely in part because he became disillusioned with corrupt leadership (Perdomo, 2012). In my opinion, corrupt leadership is the root cause, and most significant catalyst in the Miami River Cops case. New, impressionable police officers are much more likely to succumb to police corruption if they see their leaders doing the same thing. In any organization, leadership sets the example, and once

Now that I have presented a brief understanding and background of the case against the five officers and the struggles police officers and the community face in South Camden, NJ, I will examine how five officers were led off of a virtuous path by failures of the individuals and the environmental role in their demise. Specifically, I will identify the unethical behavior and contributing factors, provide my ethical opinion on the situation, the effects on the community, and how the culture of Camden Police Department may have

Serpico is about a New York police officer, Frank Serpico, or “Paco”, who got shot in the face for reporting police corruption in the New York Police Department (NYPD). Fellow officers did not help him when he was wounded. This movie portrayed real life events and factors that go on in our police forces today. There are a lot of ethical issues that go on in this movie. Men are beaten, punished, lied to, and deceived by police officers. Serpico testified against all police corruption and was left derelict in a crucial time of need. Officers today need to work together in a positive and ethical way in order to get their job done the right way.

There have been several studies and implemented policies within agencies all over the world directed to prevent and deter police misconduct / corruption. In the early 1990s, the Mollen Commission of Inquiry revealed a serious police corruption problem in the New York City Police Department (NYPD). One of the key recommendations of the commission was that their internal investigative structure the Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB) be reconstituted as it had failed to effectively tackle the problem. Almost a decade since the establishment of a new IAB, it is hailed as a noteworthy example of how such a structure should operate if police corruption is to be adequately dealt with. (Newham, 2003).

After the civil war, local politicians rewarded their supporters with jobs as police officers. The officer were not trained and there was not a standard to become an officer. The are were event when entire departments were involved in misconduct and corruption. There was not much hope in this era because there was a lack of supervision that allowed officers to behave the way that they pleased. (Walker, Samuel, and Richards, M. 1996)

Frank Serpico was a police officer in the 1960s that was excited and nervous about it at the same time because of what the job entailed. Serpico soon realized that there was a significant amount of corruption in the field and no one said anything about it. He was placed in an “action” precinct in Brooklyn which means that area has a high crime rate which he was excited about. He soon became sick of the job and strove to be a detective which did not necessarily work out for him. He sought to fight against the corruption, the justice system, and the rumors started based on an idea of someone’s sexual orientation and no evidence to back it up.

The Philadelphia Police Department faced many issues due to Prohibition, not only within the city of Philadelphia but also within the Police Department itself. During Prohibition, Police Officers were considered such a necessity that the Police Academy was shut down by the director of public safety in order to get more law enforcement out on the streets. Following the issues regarding Prohibition, corruption was common and members of the Police Department were held accountable for their actions. Just as corruption was common, as was a notable issue of racism between the citizens and officers. Many made known the fact that the Police Department was primarily a ‘white-male institution.’ Throughout the many problems the Philadelphia Police Department faced, it continually served to be the law enforcement of the city of Philadelphia.

     The police stations were so old that they were infested with rats. These working conditions had to be improved. No policeman could work to there fullest potential in a place where the rats chewed leather off of the policeman’s helmets. The cities government did absolutely nothing to improve these places. This was not a place where the people that maintain peace in the city should have had to work in.

Unfortunately, the noble cause corruption or the Dirty Harry problem is difficult to overcome due to citizens wanting police officers to “do something” about crime or to get the criminals

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

In 1994 a report by the Mollen commission on police corruption in New York exposed disproportionate corruption within the department. Violent crime, including gang type activity, cops in uniform routinely storming drug locations and stealing narcotics, money weapons and whatever they felt like taking. On duty police officers riding alongside drug dealers, providing protection while the dealers carried big amounts of drugs and cash. The commission also found cops who became drug dealers themselves starting up their own drug dealing networks and delivery centers. (Neighborhood Explanations) Although most officers are honest and hard-working, the Mollen report exposed serious, violent activity by some in the department.

Serpico” is a film that based on the of New York City Police Officer named Frank Serpico and the difficult obstacles he had to face working for the NYPD. Serpico is a “cops cop” that had to deal with persuasive organized corruption, police crime, and ethical dilemmas etc. All these obstacles were hard for Serpico to work with on a daily basis. He refused to take bribes and his co-workers begin distrust him. Serpico informed his superiors about the corruption but they did nothing about it. The superior’s just transferred him from the Bronx. Brooklyn, and Harlem. The higher ups in the police department were more concerned if Serpico spoke to any outside private organizations about the police misconduct.

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.