Police Corruption

Police Corruption

Introduction

Police Corruption doesn't occur because of some random reason, it has a exact cause. Police officers would not go through these great lengths to abuse their powers without a probable logical cause. One thing that is for sure as far as police corruption is concern is that someone wins and someone loses. The reason of police corruption is vague, and from the looks of it the causes and reasons varies from person to person. In the last two decades, research and observations regarding the causes and effects of law enforcement corruption have strengthen and diversified.

Body: Discussion and Analysis

One of the most common and prevalent type of police corruption is that of bribery and extortion. According to Arvey (2002), bribery is initiated by the citizen while extortion is initiated by the officer. This type of corruption involves the officer accepting a sum of money or a gift in exchange for avoidance of past or future prosecution. Law enforcement officers use of discretion is distorted because the acceptance of such gifts represents corrupt behavior. When officers are presented with such stimulus (gifts) and they accept such stimulus (gifts), these interferers with the officer carrying out his or her duty in the appropriate manner (Arvey, 2002).

Another type or form of police corruption is shakedowns. This involves police officers extorting money or other valuables from criminals for traffic violations or holding “street courts”, where minor traffic violations can be avoided with cash payments. This can be linked to a police agency classified as “rotten apples”, which involves a uniform officer accepting an occasional bribe while on assignments such as traffic patrol. The absence of being caught motivates the officer to engage in such type of corruption. An officer who adheres to the laws and code of ethics will not engage in such behavior, interfering with the officer's corruption. Example It stated that illegal immigrants are vulnerable targets for officers during shakedowns. Cases have been reported in Mobile County, Alabama.

Mooching is another common form or type of police corruption that continues to plague our police system example Trinidad and Tobago. Mooching entails the acceptance of coffee, cigarettes, liquor or groceries, justified by being in underpaid profession or for future acts of favoritism for the donor (owner of business). Many of us are witnesses to scenes where law enforcement officers are given free drinks at bars, lunches at food outlets. When officers accept these treats in return for protection, this may prevent the officer from carrying- out his right full duty (Miller, 2005). Perjury is another type or form of police corruption and it involves the willingness to lie under oath to provide an alibi for fellow officers appended in unlawful activity. This may be may linked to internal corruption (exist within the department). Internal corruption includes acts among police officers and involves behaviors from the bending of rules to the outright commission of illegal acts. O'Malley, (2009) used an anonymous survey to ask officers about their perceptions of ...