Criminal Justice - Which explanation of police deviance do you find most persuasive: - individual, organizational, or societal? Provide examples to support your answer.

Police Deviance

Police are expected to support the law . They are also expected to set an example for everyone else as a model law-abiding citizen . When police act in a way that is inconsistent with the normal values of society , it is considered police deviance (O 'Connor 2005

Individual police deviance seems to be the most persuasive . This often happens when there is something to gain by the officer . For example sometimes when testifying , police will deliberately leave out essential information . This is mostly done by police who genuinely believe a

guilty defendant will go free if they don 't lie about something (O 'Connor 2005

Police are allowed to take on false identities to do undercover work This may involve committing a crime themselves , and being exposed to lots of drugs and money . Sometimes the conduct of the officer is questionable . An officer becoming a drug dealer themselves in not unheard of

Misuse of confidential information is another example . Ongoing investigations are often jeopardized by a leak in an investigation (O 'Connor 2005 ) The officer may not even realize that he or she had just leaked important information . Others look up information such a criminal records for either their friends or their own personal curiosity

Overall , police have good intentions when it comes to upholding the law . Unfortunately these intentions are sometimes misguided by what some may call a misuse of authority ' All types of police deviance are difficult to regulate because of all the controversy surrounding the br

References

1 . Kappeler , V .E , Sluder R . D , Alpert , G .

(1994 . Forces of Deviance : Understanding the Dark Sides of Policing

2 . Kleining , J (1996 . The Ethics of Policing . Cambridge University Press

3 . O 'Connor , T . R . Police Deviance and Ethics . Retrieved November 17 2006 from

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