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Bribery Among Law Enforcement Officers
Bribery Among Law Enforcement Officers James Andrews Dr. Lubinski Slippery Rock University
Introduction
What is one profession centered on the protection and preservation of society? Police officers take an oath to do exactly that, protect and preserve society for those who cannot do so. There are approximately 900,000 police officers in the United States (National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund), compared to the population of approximately 320 million people (United States Census Bureau). Police officers have very stressful jobs that include long hours, working in “the spotlight”, lack of support, exposed
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It is important to keep in mind that not all police officers are bad, just like not all accountants or lawyers are bad. Police officers have constant contact with all kinds of individuals and with the opportunities that are available; corruption is one type of fraud that police officers may commit. Bribery is a type of corruption, which is stated as “public officials and private persons, respectively, abusing entrusted power for personal gain”(Boles, 2014). In other words bribery can also be described as conjuring a payment to an individual so that the paying party has some unfair advantage (Rohlfsen, 2012). This essay is going to focus on cases of police officers that have accepted bribes to protect illegal operations such solicitation and prostitution in the United …show more content…
In these cases not much was talked about the perpetrators home life but it is important to understand possible pressures that these men could have been facing. First of all, most police officers do not make very much money, which leads to a huge pressure. They may find out that it is tough to support themselves and also the needs of their families financially. Some may have families that live beyond their means and they find it tough to support that lifestyle. Others may find it tough working a police job under high volumes of stress, as any job might have, and they often times get unhappy with not only their jobs, but leadership. That in turn causes a problem because then there are ungrateful employees who do not care about the duties of their job as much. The main point in discussing pressures is that if the employees are unhappy in anyway from outside stressors, it is a major warning sign for them to commit types of
Crank & Caldero (2004) discuss the notion of the noble cause that is widely used by police officers to justify their actions. Police officers feel that there are many obstacles that prevent them to do their job efficiently. They claim that courts only hinder the process of putting criminals behind bars. They also believe that they are true patriots with a noble cause of getting rid of bad guys. To further prove their point Crank & Caldero (2004) use works of many authors, who wrote about police ethics and corruption and about how the noble cause is interpreted by police officers. Each of the authors discusses a dilemma with which polices officers have to deal when deciding what action they need to take in order to deal with criminals. Cumulatively, it seems that police conduct themselves towards criminals and citizens with hostility and with actions that maybe constituted as unlawful and corruptive in nature. But to the police officers, who are seeking justice and are driven by a noble cause, all means are good to get the bad guys. There is also a philosophical twist that puts a poli...
Serve and Protect are common words associated with police officers, however some law enforcement officers taint the honor and integrity of the job. Police Corruption is a serious problem affecting nearly every city across the country and world. Curbing police corruption is a tall order; however, improving the recruitment and training process and internal controls can bring this issue to an abrupt stop.
However, the acceptance of even the smallest benefit will start an inevitable slide toward serious corruption. The only difference in accepting a cup of coffee or $1000 is the degree of wrongness. Once an officer gets in the habit of receiving things for free, it is easier to accept a larger bribe. Each gratuity by itself may be small, but the cumulative effect is said to be great. The merchant supplying the coffee will ultimately receive a disproportionate amount of police serves at the expense of other merchants. The police need the community’s support to properly do their job. “They must be perceived as an honest group of crime fighters. Not a bunch of coffee mooching do-nothings” (Petrocelli,
One of the main controversies about the police department has been the permission granted to undercover officers who, during investigations, can have sex with prostitutes so that the lawbreakers can be caught in the act. Other stakeholders have condemned this provision of the law. However, the police department argues that prostitutes would insist on having sex to recognize undercover officers. On the other hand, Assistant Chief General Dowsett said that they have never authorized this practice and would never do that. One of the human rights’ activist said that the undercover officers have to be given the permission to agree or offer to pay for sex services by prostitutes as an undercover operation. However, they argue that the officers cannot violate the dignity, sanctity and physicality of anyone by sexual penetration (Cunningham, 2014).
For years police corruption has been a major problem in American society but where is the line between moral and unethical police corruption, many modern movies address this vary issue. Some films portray how types of police corruption can have a positive influence on society, while others show the dark side of police corruption. Many law enforcement agents join the criminal justice with the basic idea of “justice for all,” however, most of them do not realize that the nice guy doesn’t always win. Even though there are vast amounts of movies which specifically address police corruption we will use three main movies for our argument today, mostly LA Confidential, however, also Training Day.
The ability of police to exercise discretion was originally designed to allow officers to maintain the peace by allowing certain types of crime to remain unpunished in certain circumstances. This essay will aim to explore the issue of police discretion that suggests that the application of discretion works against the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In drawing this conclusion, this essay will examine the relationship between policing ideals and the use of discretionary powers and the relationship between policing attitudes and the use of discretionary powers. A discussion regarding the use of police discretion towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can scarcely be mentioned without making reference to arguably the greatest failing by a police officer since indigenous Australians were formally recognised as citizens. Further to this, the case of Mulrunji Doomadgee (Cameron) will be examined from the point of view of officer discretionary powers. The penultimate point to be made will involve the Anglo Australian response to this case as well as the ongoing relationship between indigenous Australians and the institutions that govern them. As mentioned, the first point will involve policing ideals and their relationship to discretionary powers.
Ethics play a huge role in a police officers line of work. Since police are given such a high degree of trust and authority, it can unfortunately be very easy for an officer to fall into some unethical behavior. This can range from just minor acts that are frowned upon, to actual downright illegal activity. Even though there are a countless number of acts and behaviors that can be considered unethical, in the following paper I will focus primarily on those incidents involving police officers who steal for their own personal gain, and discuss my position on the issue.
Policing basically is the job of dealing with society, if the officers would not be familiar to their job environment it would be very difficult for them to be answerable to their department, society or in from of courts if they are brought forward. It’s not just what happens with an individual person it is based on the whole bunch of community which is the responsibility of the police officers. Evaluation of police is done by people on basis of their performance, crime control(Weitzer & Tuch, 2005)If crime rates
Police officers’s with a high-level of stress are encourage to seek help from their department. The Employee Assistance Program helps law enforcement agencies to provide medical assiatnce not only for them, but their families as well. Stress can take an effect to a police officer behavior, which can cloud their judgment when encountering a criminal. Also, stress can affect families, which can lead to domestic violence, lack of sleep, and divorce. The psychological mindset can lose the trsut within the community. In recent decades, police officer was the trusted organization in the United States, but it is now becoming a situation on the concerns for their safety. In addition, professions do not come natural in people behavior, they learn from the mentors that are provided and how the envornment function around
There are many thoughts on police officers accepting gratuities such as free drinks and food, discounts, and use of facilities. The view by Elliston and Feldberg (1985) that the purpose of most gratuities is to show friendship and admiration of police officers is no problem for my agency, the Knoxville Police Department, and many others. This is ok when officers still give equal time at places that don’t officer such discounts. However, if such establishments start asking officers to spend more time in their businesses for the discounts the officers must stop as something nice has turned into something unethical.
Corruption of authority is defined when an officer receives officially unauthorized, unearned material gain by virtue of his position as a police officer without violating the law (Barker & Roebuck, 1973, p. 21). When police officers receive free food, free
In this report I will concentrate only on external corruption because it has been the larger center of attention recently. I have decided to include the fairly recent accounts of corruption from a few major cities, mainly New York, because that is where I have lived for the past 22 years. I compiled my information from numerous articles written in the New York Times over the last 5 years. My definitional infornmation and background data came from various books cited that have been written on the issue of police corruption. Those books helped me create a basis of just what the different types of corruption and deviances are, as well as how and why corruption happens. The books were filled with useful insite but were not update enough, so I relied on the newspaper articles to provide me with the current, and regional information that was needed to complete this report. In simple terms, corruption in policing is usually viewed as the misuse of authority by a police officer acting offically to fulfill personal needs or wants. For a corrupt act to occure, three distinct elements of police corruption must be present simultaneously: 1) missuse of authority, 2) missuse of official capacity, and 3) missuse of personal attainment. (Dantzker, 1995: p 157) It can be said that power inevitably tends
Police psychology is broadly defined as the application of psychological principles and methods to law enforcement. With the popularity of television shows like Criminal Minds and Law & Order: SVU, the job of a police psychologist has become more well known and even popular. As seen on these shows, a police psychologist can be helpful in profiling a criminal, but they also provide many other services to the members of a police department. Although the development of this field has a long history, police psychology as a separate entity is still relatively recent and growing. This intimate relationship between psychology and law enforcement can be traced back to almost a century ago.[1] It first developed out of a need for a variety of psychological services in the law enforcement field, including screening applicants and counseling during grief and stress situations. In the time that it has been around, it has proved to be a valuable resource for the law enforcement profession.
Police corruption is a nationwide problem that has been going on for many years. Not only is corruption a problem on our own U.S. soil, but police practices of corruption go as far east as Europe and Asia. Many studies, polls and examinations were taken to find out how exactly what the general publics’ opinions of the police are. Officers receive a lot of scrutiny over this issue, but for good reason.
What is police corruption? Overall police corruption is an officer’s personal gain through the misrepresentation of police power. Police corruption comes in many forms. It can be as insignificant as accepting a free cup of coffee from a coffee shop, accepting bribes in lieu of investigation or arrest, ticket fixing, and greed. Cases of police corruption are cited frequently across the United States. Corruption is nothing new, but why does it continue to go on within law enfo...