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Police Scandal: Miami River Cops scandal in the 1980s

Running head : Miami River Cops scandal in the 1980s

Police Scandal : Miami River Cops scandal in the 1980s

Author name

2007

Abstract

The article explains the changes in the screening , selection , and hiring of Miami police officers in the early 1980s that contributed to corruption of significant proportions . It is hypothesized that police corruption occurred as a result of both social structural (or community changes , and departmental problems . These factors are documented , as is the extent of police corruption . Screening , selection , and hiring practices for this period are addressed

, particularly those related to testing procedures . The Miami Police Department and the hiring practices which affected the department were discussed . Recommendations are made regarding future police hiring and supervision practices

Police Scandal : Miami River Cops scandal in the 1980s

Corruption is a major concern of public agencies , but for law enforcement agencies it is of special concern . Of all criminal justice agencies the police are the most widely dispersed , readily accessible and widely visible agents of the criminal justice system (Carter , 1985 Corruption of police officers can arise out of their individual factors or social-structural factors specific to organizational characteristics (Walker , 1983 . There were three famous hypotheses about police corruption . The first hypothesis involves psychological or individual factors and blames society-at-large , in that citizens provide little gifts and gratuities that can lead to bribes and ultimately no more aggressive criminal activity by police officers . The second is a structural or affiliation hypothesis , which is similar to the society-at-large model , although it arises from police cynicism based on a loss of faith in humankind ultimately , corruption becomes acceptable with the department . The third or rotten-apple hypothesis focuses on the individual officer and the effects of poor recruitment . The rotten-apple explanation is offered by Delattre (1989 ) as the primary explanation for the River Cops incidents in Miami although he notes that neither structural nor rotten-apple theories are adequate by themselves nor mutually exclusive

The River Cops cases and other cases of police misbehavior in Miami are notable because they appear to have involved social-structural elements community pressures that influenced both organizational and individual behavior . It appears that a confluence of structural and individual factors led to a period of corruption on a major scale in the Miami Police Department . Four questions are examined in this article . First was there significantly more corruption in the Miami Police Department subsequent to a period of community problems and a need to rapidly increase hiring ? Second , did poor screening and selection practices lead to greater levels of corruption ? Third , was poor supervision of these Officers , especially those less qualified , the problem ? Fourth if any or all of these were the case , what prevented the department from correcting the problems ? An understanding of these events can help other agencies and communities facing similar circumstances

Three drug raids on the Miami River led to the discovery of Miami 's worst police scandals . The first occurred in late May 1985 . Miami police officers reported seizing 850 pounds of cocaine hidden...

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