Slippery Slope It is not uncommon for citizens, particular store or business owners to show their gratitude to officers by offering free cups of coffee, free meals, or discounts in exchange for their attentiveness and presence at the store. While the giving of a free cup of coffee may be an innocent gesture and certainly is not the sole contributor to ethical violations, or police corruption, the expectation, by the storeowner, of something in return is what establishes a “slippery slope” (Cheeseman, 2011). What makes a gift a gratuity is the reason it is given; what makes it corruption is the reason it is taken. The acceptance of even the smallest “perks,” such as free coffee, is problematic because it changes the mindset of officers. The slippery slope is corruption that begins with harmless, well intentioned practices and leads, over time, to all manner of crimes-for-profit (Delattre, 2004). If the reason the gratuity is given and taken leads to favoritism, impartiality, and prejudice, then this begins the downward spiral of unethical behavior. …show more content…
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,
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.
Monetary profit is the first thing an individual recalls when corruption in the police department is discussed, mainly because officers are subjected to enticing opportunities, such as reclamation of missing property and bribes from owners and managers of restaurants. Because of new policies and improvements regarding the department and system of selecting new officers, this level of corruption has been hindered. Currently, officers are hired because of their dedication to their principles, which makes them susceptible to the noble cause corruption theory (Dempsey and Frost, 2012)
Roberts, Sam. “BOOKSHELF; Rooting Out Police Corruption.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 July 2012. Web. 04 Nov. 2012.
A simple greedy thought can hurt many people. “The illusion of simplicity crumbles when one considers the many contexts in which this “effects” scenario can arise.(Erbsen, 2015 pg.389 )” They can not only hurt themselves and the state but it can also hurt the reputation of the police as well. “Honest officers are silenced by their fear of ``ratting ' ' on another cop no matter how grave the crime. Supervisors often fear the impact of a corruption scandal on their careers more than corruption itself. No institution wants its reputation tainted. But police departments have uniquely powerful incentives to avoid uncovering corruption (Armao et al, 1994).” The people need the police more than they think and if they think that they are run by corrupt officials then they will lose all faith in their police force and the police force will end up hurting their city thus end up hurting their state. “Corruption and misconduct undermine police efforts in tackling crime and protecting communities; they limit the effectiveness of police actions and have a detrimental effect on public confidence in the police (Wright, 2010 pg.339) If the police can be honest with the people and with themselves then the corruption could be dealt with even if it means the police’s reputation is tarnished. “Every police force faces the challenge of
With the current environment of law enforcement and the struggle with trust and legitimacy within communities; police departments are exploring programs that seek to increase police legitimacy. The You Have Options program is such an example of a program that can build trust and legitimacy with a vulnerable population within communities. Research by Mazerolle et al. (2013) noted that “police legitimacy is thought to be a sure pathway for police to elicit cooperation, obtain compliance and gain satisfaction from the public.” The pathway to promoting legitimacy is through procedural justice where police provide a high quality of treatment, are fair, and make good decisions. The 20 elements of the You Have Options program
Police corruption is a difficult issue cities have to deal with and one of the oldest problems in the police force. Corruption can be defined as the mistreatment of public power for personal benefit or private and the use of excessive force either emotional or physical. In this essay I will explain in detail federal indictments of Los Angeles Country Sheriff officers use of mistreatment of jail inmates and visitors. Another topic I will explain is the transfer of Los Angeles Country Sheriff hired officers with questionable background. Finally I will end by analyzing the hiring of new Sheriff deputies under the “Friends of the Sheriff” program. There are several ways police departments could take to reduce police corruption. The three areas I think should change are the training officers further in how to diminish abuse, improving personal character of officers, and incentives program.
Martin, Rich. "Police Corruption: An Analytical Look into Police Ethics." The FBI Enforcement Bulletin May 2011: 11+. Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
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...
To get into the different types of corruption and misconduct, Pollock discusses six. You have gratuities, professional courtesy, use of alcohol and drugs on the job, graft, sexual misconduct, and criminal cops. Gratuities are basically items that are given to individuals, not because of the relationship between the receiver and the giver, but rather on the receiver’s role or position. A common example of this would be the accepting of free coffee. Many stores offer such things for appreciation of the officer’s work. An excellent example of this is the Holiday Gas Station in Marquette. The store gives free coffee to the officers of the Marquette area. Police courtesy is a common practice of not giving an...
Police officers are often confronted with the ethical dilemma of whether or not to accept gratuities. This dilemma is an aspect of police discretion and an example of the choices that officers are forced to make. Police officers have discretion when confronted with choices such as whether or not to charge an individual, how to handle certain situations, or whether to accept a gratuity. This purpose of this article is to inform readers that police discretion not only encompasses use of force, police profiling, or domestic violence responses, but that police officers also have discretionary choices when gratuities are offered to them. Should police officers accept a gratuity, or should they politely decline these offers? Based on a community policing style of policing, it is necessary to ensure that police officers do not accept gratuities because it is important that officers recognize everyone in the community, not just those who may offer gratuities. This is because accepting gratuities may lead to favoritism by the officer, it may have an unintended effect on the relationship between other members of the community, it may lead to corruption within the department, and overall treatment of officers to members of the community who do not offer gratuities.
Bibliography Why Good Cops Go Bad. Newsweek, p.18. Carter, David L. (1986). Deviance & Police. Ohio: Anderson Publishing Co. Castaneda, Ruben (1993, Jan. 18). Bearing the Badge of Mistrust. The Washington Post, p.11. Dantzer, Mark L. (1995). Understanding Today's Police. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. James, George (1993, Mar. 29). Confessions of Corruption. The New York Times, P.8, James, George (1993, Nov. 17). Officials Say Police Corruption is Hard To Stop. The New York times, p.3. Sherman, Lawrence W(1978). Commission Findings. New York Post, P. 28 Walker, J.T. (1992). The police in America, p.243-263, chp. 10, Walker, Samuel (1999).
The meaning of "slippery slope”in criminal justice is a concept or plan of action which will point to anything unacceptable, illegal, or unfavorable (Delattre,2011). The slippery slope theory says that police taking money or rewards begins from taking trivial things and police officers admit it. It is believed that if police officers take small rewards for their service that it will lead them to other officers involved in corruption. An example of a slippery slope would be when a police officer takes a free cup of tea or coffee, then free meals from someone, he will look
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.
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.
Rich, Martin. “An Analytical Look into Police Ethics.” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Vol.80. Issue 5. May 2011. 11-17. EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Nov 2013