Police Misconduct and Corruption
Week 1 Assignment
In order for a Police agency to prevent and deter Police misconduct, there must be a definition to what actions and behaviors that the term will encompass. The term ‘police corruption’ has been used to describe many activities: bribery; violence and brutality; fabrication and destruction of evidence; racism; favoritism or nepotism. Many different scholars differ in their own examples of the definition. Before attempting to the question of whether a precise definition is possible, it is worth examining the range of activities that might be included within a broad discussion of corruption. In (Bayley and Perito, 2011), it is defined as police corruption is a contested phrase with narrow and broad meanings. Narrowly defined, corruption refers to police personnel who use their position and authority for personal rather than public benefit. More broadly, corruption refers to any violation of rules even when there is no personal gain, as in perjury, physical abuse of prisoners, sexual misconduct, robbery, and racial profiling. Another definition that has been used to describe Police corruption is Police deviance. Police deviance occurs when law enforcement Officers behave in a manner that is inconsistent with the officer’s legal authority, organizational authority, and standards of ethical conduct.
Some known facts surrounding causes of corruption may be; corrupt practices are found in some form in many police agencies in all societies; there is evidence of corrupt practices in all stages of police history; corruption is not simply a problem of the lower ranks – corruption has been found at all levels of police organizations, that there are certain forms of policing, or areas of the police organization, which are more at risk of corruption; and it is not simply financial in nature at times; there are activities that extend beyond bribery and extortion.
I have been a Police Officer for over twenty years. I have spent the majority of my
In order for a Police agency to prevent and deter Police misconduct, there must be a definition to what actions and behaviors that the term will encompass. The term ‘police corruption’ has been used to describe many activities: bribery; violence and brutality; fabrication and destruction of evidence; racism; favoritism or nepotism. Many different scholars differ in their own examples of the definition. Before attempting to the question of whether a precise definition is possible, it is worth examining the range of activities that might be included within a broad discussion of corruption. In (Bayley and Perito, 2011), it is defined as police corruption is a contested phrase with narrow and broad meanings. Narrowly defined, corruption refers to police personnel who use their position and authority for personal rather than public benefit. More broadly, corruption refers to any violation of rules even when there is no personal gain, as in perjury, physical abuse of prisoners, sexual misconduct, robbery, and racial profiling. Another definition that has been used to describe Police corruption is Police deviance. Police deviance occurs when law enforcement Officers behave in a manner that is inconsistent with the officer’s legal authority, organizational authority, and standards of ethical conduct.
Some known facts surrounding causes of corruption may be; corrupt practices are found in some form in many police agencies in all societies; there is evidence of corrupt practices in all stages of police history; corruption is not simply a problem of the lower ranks – corruption has been found at all levels of police organizations, that there are certain forms of policing, or areas of the police organization, which are more at risk of corruption; and it is not simply financial in nature at times; there are activities that extend beyond bribery and extortion.
I have been a Police Officer for over twenty years. I have spent the majority of my
References: https://www.griffith.edu.au/data/assets/pdf_file/0004/.../reduce.pdf “Reducing complaints against Police and preventing misconduct” 2002 http://www.csvr.org.za/docs/policing/preventingpolice.pdf “Preventing Police Corruption: Lessons from the New York City Police Department” 2003 www.usccr.gov/pubs/sac/wv0104/wv0104.pdf “Coping with Police Misconduct in West Virginia” 2004 www.icgg.org/downloads/contribution07_andvig.pdf “Research on corruption a policy oriented survey” 2000 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Code_of_Silence, 2010 Banks, C. (2009). Criminal justice ethics: theory and practice (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Frank, J. (2009). Conceptual, methodological, and policy considerations in the study of police misconduct. Criminology and Public Policy, 8 (4), 733-736. Ivkovic, S. (2009). Rotten apples, rotten branches, and rotten orchards: a cautionary tale of police misconduct. Criminology and Public Policy, 8 (4), 777-785. Kane, R. & White, M. (2009). Bad cops: a study of career-ending misconduct among New York City police officers. Criminology and Public Policy, 8 (4), 737-768.