Use of Force

Police Corruption

Police Corruption

Introduction

In a society that appears to have lost its moral compass in so many ways , the escalation of petty and violent crime , and the constant threat that substance abuse poses on the modern community model as example civilians are relying on the police more than ever before . The role of law enforcement as fearless , and flawless public servants , beyond the moral standards of the criminals that they pursue in the interest of public safety has come to be expected 100 of the time . Reality however

, paints a different picture the humanity of law enforcement personnel can , and does sometimes lead even the most respected and devoted police officers into the abyss of criminal activities including assaults inflicted on innocent victims , organized crime substance abuse , and other forms of corruption . This explores the various areas of corruption in law enforcement , and concludes with recommendations to prevent flawed individuals from becoming police officers from the outset

Overview of Police Corruption

To begin to discuss police corruption , it is important to understand exactly what police corruption consists of and how it can be defined Generally speaking , there are no set standards of what can be identified as corruption (Ivkovic , 2003 ) but there are may areas upon which experts worldwide generally agree when asked for examples of corruption . These examples include the obvious such as murder , assault , extortion racketeering , drug trafficking and so forth , and may include other unique examples depending upon the laws of the defined territory in which the police officer works , be it a city , county , state , nation etc . Generally speaking , when talking of police corruption , most sources would agree that police corruption consists of those actions which violate the very laws that police officers are entrusted to uphold

Having given a broad definition of police corruption , the question arises as to why any police officer would break the law , especially since these individuals have made a choice to enforce the law as a profession and they especially have an in-depth knowledge of what is legal and illegal , as well as the effect that criminal activity has on victims and communities at large . However , maybe one of the reasons that police corruption exists is because police personnel , generally speaking , forego big salaries and perks in the pursuit of a professional police career . In the course of this career , however , they soon learn that crime can in fact pay , thereby giving the police officer what is seemingly the best of both worlds- a respectable career as well as criminal activities which provide easy cash , connections , and more power (Ray , 2001

Sources have also shown that the high level of stress that exists in police work can drive even the most seasoned officer to irrational behavior such as corruption (Glenn , et al , 2003 . Amazingly enough while most people will glibly say that they are under stress or feeling stressed , these same people would be hard pressed in most cases to define what stress actually is . Reality is...