Cj340 Applied Criminal Justice Ethics Paper

Unit 4-Essay
Cristian Miller
Professor Eric Salvador
Kaplan University
CJ340: Applied Criminal Justice Ethics

According to Merriam-Webster slippery slope is defined as a process or series of events that is hard to stop or control once it has begun and that usually leads to worse or more difficult behavior. In the law enforcement field, gratuity, which is the receipt of free meals, services, or discounts, goes hand in hand with the term slippery slope. Many think it is both unethical and immoral to except gratuities on and off the job. Gratuity by others is viewed as “A relatively innocent transaction in a work universe in which the standard form of reciprocity . . . is extortion-ate rather than hospitable.” (Delattre,
Corrupt officers can be divided into two categories, Grass-eaters and Meat-eaters. Grass-eaters will accept gratuity if it comes their way whereas Meat-eaters use their power for personal gain. Accepting something as simple as free coffee or discounts on meals could easily lead to the corruption of an officer. For example as Lawrence W. Sherman states in our textbook Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing; accepting a free cup of coffee can lead to accepting a free drink from a bartender, to bribes for traffic violations, to money from gamblers and prostitutes, and lastly graft from
The Captain and Lieutenants allow a certain kind of behavior from a select few inmates in exchange for information. These select inmates get to stay out and clean the halls, extra phone time, and extra recreation time. By higher-ranking officers doing this they then set the tone for what the sergeants and officers can do on their blocks.
Lastly, the Rotten Apple Hypothesis states that people are naturally corrupt. This hypothesis holds that individuals may have been susceptible to bad examples and or experiences during childhood. Officers who are bad apples are capable of selling drugs, robbery, theft, and other more serious crimes such as murder. I do not believe that people are born corrupt.
This however, does not mean that you have to become a product of your environment. All of these hypotheses lack something that others have moreover; I think all of these theories have a substantial amount of truth to them when added together. I believe we have all encountered some form of corruption in our chosen fields. I think that corruption is a learned behavior. Some people learn this behavior because of the environment they grow up in and the people that they surround themselves