The Slippery Slope to Corruption and the Public Corruption of Police Officers
For the Running Header: THE SLIPPERY SLOPE TO CORRUPTION
The Slippery Slope to Corruption and the Public Corruption of Police Officers
Ricky A Price, Col. U.S.A.F. (Ret)
Kaplan University Online
CJ340-02: Applied Criminal Justice Ethics
Professor Kevin Stoehr
10 July 2012
The law enforcement agent, that represents government, bears the heavy responsibility of maintaining, in his own conduct and the honor and integrity of all government institutions. He, consequently, shall guard against placing himself in a position in which any person can expect special consideration or in which the public can reasonably assume that this special consideration is being given. Accordingly, he should be firm in refusing any type of gifts, favors, or gratuities, large or small, which can, in the public mind, be interpreted as being capable of influencing his judgment in the discharge of his duties.
The issue of police acceptance of gratuities has long been a source of controversy. Many writers on police corruption see the acceptance of even the smallest gift or benefit as the beginning of the end of an honest officer's career. Others suggest that the acceptance of gratuities does little harm, and that there may in fact be positive benefits in the practice, not just for the officer involved, but for society as a whole (Delattre, 2009). In this paper I look at the practice of accepting gratuities in order to draw attention to some particular situations in which their acceptance will always cause troubles, and thus to draw attention to those situations in which police ought to say "No!"
It is not my intention to provide an comprehensive investigation of the practice of accepting gratuities, or to describe every situation in which gratuities ought to be refused. My intention, rather, is to draw attention to those types of situations in which the acceptance of gratuities will inevitably lead to troubles of one sort or another. I also recognize that in an ideal world there
The Slippery Slope to Corruption and the Public Corruption of Police Officers
Ricky A Price, Col. U.S.A.F. (Ret)
Kaplan University Online
CJ340-02: Applied Criminal Justice Ethics
Professor Kevin Stoehr
10 July 2012
The law enforcement agent, that represents government, bears the heavy responsibility of maintaining, in his own conduct and the honor and integrity of all government institutions. He, consequently, shall guard against placing himself in a position in which any person can expect special consideration or in which the public can reasonably assume that this special consideration is being given. Accordingly, he should be firm in refusing any type of gifts, favors, or gratuities, large or small, which can, in the public mind, be interpreted as being capable of influencing his judgment in the discharge of his duties.
The issue of police acceptance of gratuities has long been a source of controversy. Many writers on police corruption see the acceptance of even the smallest gift or benefit as the beginning of the end of an honest officer's career. Others suggest that the acceptance of gratuities does little harm, and that there may in fact be positive benefits in the practice, not just for the officer involved, but for society as a whole (Delattre, 2009). In this paper I look at the practice of accepting gratuities in order to draw attention to some particular situations in which their acceptance will always cause troubles, and thus to draw attention to those situations in which police ought to say "No!"
It is not my intention to provide an comprehensive investigation of the practice of accepting gratuities, or to describe every situation in which gratuities ought to be refused. My intention, rather, is to draw attention to those types of situations in which the acceptance of gratuities will inevitably lead to troubles of one sort or another. I also recognize that in an ideal world there