Police Corruption

There are many reasons why police corruption is difficult to control. The first and greatest reason is that police officers often work alone without direct supervision. If corruption is taking place it can go un noticed and unchanged for a long time. If an officer were taking payment in exchange for not ticketing at traffic stops the supervisor would never know his officer is leaving with extra cash and violators would never report this action because they are receiving a cheaper punishment or think of the police as an authority figure and are frightened to speak against them. In addition to increased officer safety, adding two officers to a patrol duty would make it less likely for an individual to preform these actions. Another reason corruption is so difficult to control is because officers may not even know they are falling subject to it. If a restaurant offers you a discount on your purchase or the person you always run into at the coffee shop pays for your coffee. These may seem like genuine act of kindness, however next time you’re at a domestic dispute you may be more likely to side with the person who has been buying your

If there is police corruption taking place that is known to other officers an unwritten rule may exist among officers not to say anything or take action against that officer. Anyone who does take action would be considered an outcast and may be treated differently. A supervisor who knows corruption is taking place may pull the officer off the street and keep him in the station or transfer to another department. This results in no real punishment. I don’t think this is as large a problem than it has been in the past. A way to combat this is rewarding those who do speak up and actually punishing those who take part in corruption, this ultimately falls on the higher ranks of the department to set this