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Understanding Police Misconduct : Theoretical Frameworks

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Charidy Miles
Professor Lisa M. Dario
CRJ 409 Police Accountability
July 12, 2015
Understanding Police Misconduct: Theoretical Frameworks
When conceptualizing a theoretical understanding of Police misconduct in its raw form, it is essential to register its historical origins in the process. Such behavior has existed since the early days of policing when substantial acts of harassment, corruption, and brutality were usually targeted towards the working class populations. Despite the new world of “police accountability” strategies and tactics, police misconduct is still prevalent in those very same communities and unfortunately is very often systematically overlooked. In result, police are not held fully accountable for their actions and the reform of police misconduct appears to be more complex in today’s world. Critical instances such as the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo, and the 1997 brutal attack of Abner Louima by officers of the New York City Police Department outraged communities in such a way that they have become landmarks of system failure. Recent cases have since emerged the community’s attention towards police corruption that lingers without regard due to the “legitimate” perceptions of the public. It is typical that police officers involved in cases of brutality and the excessive use of force are singled out and perceived as “bad apples” of a barrel full of good apples, but the reality of the matter is that police misconduct goes beyond the individual level.

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