Police Corruption Research

And despite the watchful eye of the public, the police have continued to engage in corruption. The paper provides a history of corruption and various ways that the police have engaged in corruption and continue to be involved in the vice. The paper conducts a literature review of works done by other scholars on this subject. One thing stands among the literature which; investigating police corruption is extremely difficult due to lack of cooperation from the police. The paper also borrows information from recent study that provided that at police officers are arrested at least 1100 times on a daily basis. RESEARCH QUESTION 12 1. CHALLENGES IN STUDYING POLICE CORRUPTION 12 1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 14 CHAPTER TWO 15 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 15 2. INTRODUCTION 15 2. DATA COLLECTION 28 3. DATA ANALYSIS 29 3. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 29 3.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 29 4. CONCLUSION 29 5. Additionally, many unsuspecting citizens have been harmed by the police. Police corruption in the USA has been experienced since the mid 1800’s when the first police departments was formed. In this time in history, municipalities and their agencies were governed by political parties. This implied that citizens who were loyal to such parties were assured of employment within the municipalities and their agencies. Loyalty to the parties was demonstrated through protection of the illegal activities and businesses that were run by the political elite (Beer, 2018). Several rights were lost in the hands of the police and many other innocent citizens were wrongfully targeted because of their involvement in the civil rights movements (University of Minnesota, n.

d). The New York Police department was one of those identified to be among the leaders in corruption cases. According to the Knapp commission of 1972, the NYPD involved in several corrupt cases that included bribery and involvement in prostitution, gambling and drug related crimes (Morrison, 2015). In addition, they gave protection to the drug traffickers and involved in drug trafficking besides leading illegal seizures and searches as well as falsifying records. It serves as an example of how law enforcement should be. The FBI employs individuals with the best character, integrity and professionalism. Besides the FBI employs individuals with high education and pays almost five times compared to the local police departments. On the other hand, the local departments pay less, education standards are lower compared to federal officers and integrity is also low.

This provides the main reason for the higher rates of corruption among the state and local officers compared to the federal officers. Examples include pushers and prostitutes, professional burglars, and narcotic addicts. In addition, external corruption exists when police receive payments from individuals who need police corruption or fail to obey various strict laws that limit specific activities which they are engaged in. Examples of individuals who need police protection are those operating business in areas marked as high crime areas and those operating liquor store. Besides, police engage in clean graft in which cash is paid for service by the police. External corruption among the police is developed in a hierarchical form where the person issuing the bribe or payout is assured that the officer receiving the payment is able to give the protection required or works with other officers who also receive their share of the payment and are able to protect the business or person in question.

This may also include the misuse of professional privileges such as departments’ credit cards. (4) Shakedowns: this involves receiving bribes to abandon criminal investigation proceedings. These may include failure to make arrests or impound property and make arrests. (5) Internal payments to other senior officers in exchange of prerogatives such as vacations, lucrative shifts, promotion and allocation among other things. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Corruption in the society has existed from the beginning of known history of humankind. Corruption affects every society and even in those countries and institutions where corruption is purportedly thought not to exists, there are various sophisticated and well-structured corruption channels. In most cases, corruption levels vary depending on the salaries, level of education, living standards and cultural beliefs among other factors.

Corruption also varies from one occupation to the next, where according to research police departments have some of the highest corruption levels. The police or law enforcement officers have the burden of not just protecting the law but are expected to uphold the same laws and be accountable for their actions. However, history has recorded times without number several police officers who have broken the law and engaged in corruption activities some with criminal gangs and drug cartels and syndicates which threaten the peace and stability in the society. The police have also enjoyed protection from governments that fear any negative public image of their law enforcement officers (University of Minnesota, n. d). However, in developed and mature democracies such as the USA, the subject of police corruption is slowly gaining enough public and government attention and has received a lot of interest from several social scientists.

In the USA, police corruption started receiving a lot of public attention towards the end of the civil rights era. Getting into the 1990s, several police corruption cases involving disregard to integrity and involvement in the war against drugs became a major issue of public debate. General Objectives The objective of this study is to identify police corruption in the USA and establish proper recommendation on how the issue can be effectively addressed. Specific Objectives a) To identify police corruption in the USA. b) To establish forms of police corruption and the factors that lead to police corruption in the USA. c) To use (a) and (b) above to recommend various strategies to effectively address corruption in the USA. RESEARCH QUESTION This research seeks to answer the question: Is police corruption a significant societal menace that requires resolute measures to tackle? 1.

The Mollen commission employed various techniques to get information from the NYPD one of which included using informants (University of Minnesota, n. d). This commission appreciated the extent of police corruption by noting that every time they looked for corruption they found it. However, it is still difficult to justify the presence of police corruption since most officers do not corporate to give any information on corruption to the researchers. In addition, it is also very difficult to monitor and take into account every engagement the police have this the citizens. The second provides an overview of the literature review. THEORITICAL LITERARURE REVIEW 2. Definition of corruption The concept of corruption has drawn many definitions. According to Rosseau, the legitimacy of public power comes from the people (Newburn, 2015).

This implies that the government in exercising its duty through various departments such as the police, have their power from the trust bestowed upon them by the people. Besides, it is necessary to create logical and consistent policies of administration within the police department to address issues such as these. In addition, the discussion of corruption within the police department must not be limited by the definition of corruption. Police Corruption Police corruption refers to a range of criminal, civil and procedural violations of police authority. Procedural violations occur when the police department rules and regulations are violated while criminal violations occur when the police violate federal and state laws. On the other hand, when the police violate the constitutional rights of the citizens than that is known as a civil violation (Fitch, 2013).

The notion of bad apples is employed by these institutions to shift attention from powerful individuals within the organization such as the chief executive officers, and police commandants who in most cases are at the center of the corruption scandals (Fitch, 2013). The bad apples approach lacks weight when addressing institutional corruption because it is determined by the general deterrence theory besides assuming that meted punishments will send the required message to other individuals involved in the corruption. However, while the deterrence theory may be true, not significant evidence has supported its productivity in dealing with corruption among police officers (Kutnjak 2005). The responsibility of maintain law and order given to the police force vests upon them a huge task of leading with example.

The citizens look up to the police to lead in upholding the law and protect the citizens as they go about their activities. S. C. A 14141[2000] of the united states law provides that it is unlawful for the police to engage in a practice or pattern that deprives another citizen of their rights. The federal law also defines discriminative corruption where in Title VI of the civil rights act of 1964 and the office of the Justice programs statute, discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin and religion are outlawed. According to these laws, corruption by the police includes such acts as depriving individuals of their rights, conducting unjustified arrests, discrimination and well as the refusal to address such complaints by the police department (Newburn, 2015).

d) Those of excellent character. These are individuals with a high moral standard that guides every undertaking of their lives. Among all these characters, the goal of the law enforcement agencies should be to recruit individuals of excellent character. However, the reality is that the law enforcement is no exception and it draws the interest of individuals of all the above characters. This informs part of the reason police corruption is still a key menace in the society (Delattre, 2014). In most cases, acceptance of these gifts is not counted as bribes, but several researchers have concluded that they act as the first stages of more serious corruption activities. Protection of illegal activities It involves the police receiving payments to protect illegal businesses or activities.

It is done in two main ways. One involves the police giving protecting to illegal business activities such as prostitution, gambling and selling of drugs. The other involves the police protecting legal business operations such as liquor stores to help them avoid issues such as breach citations. Opportunistic theft is fueled by the fact that most police officers find themselves as the highest authority and only accountable persons in various situations. This makes it easy for them to steal unnoticed. It is important to note that opportunistic theft is not usually structured but occurs as an individual decision to steal. Shakedowns Shakedown occurs when the police accept bribes or payouts for failing to arrest individuals they witnessed committing a crime. Shakedown is a form of opportunistic corruption.

On the other hand, felony offences involve the police deliberately acting to prevent court action on felony violations. The police can also interfere with evidence, fail to press charges against offenders or issue perjured testimonies. Such fixes can be individual initiatives or organized within a police department. Influencers of corruption 2. Bad apples Many organizations including the police have the tendency of alienating themselves from the corruption scandals in their organizations by terming it as an issue among a few deviant employees commonly referred to as “bad apples. This kind of argument is flawed. First, it is based on the general deterrence theory. This theory has the assumption that the punishment given will send a message to the other individuals on the expected code of conduct.

This method may have effects but there is no adequate evidence to support that it works (Tonry, 2008). In addition, this method almost always fails to implicate the right persons involved in the corruption scandal. Managing Corruption Corruption cases within the law enforcement always come to light when there are scandals and police controls are broken down. Such cases attract the attention of various relevant investigative commissions who usually depend on the attitude of the public to favor their course of championing for reform as well as investigating the corruption cases. The commissions normally obtain data from the affected police departments and use them to aid in their investigation process (Huber, 2014). Such data enables the commission to identify key areas within the affected department that internal control failed.

They then use their findings to make recommendations for various policy changes and punishments. Schumalleger, the Father of American Criminology, applied his theory of differential association to explain those antisocial behaviors (Schumalleger, 2009). Although his theory was not created with the law enforcement community in mind specifically, it can be applied here also. In a typical day of an officer the job duties entail such activities as giving traffic tickets to individuals, handing prostitutes besides arresting drug users most of whom believe they have a right to use their drugs as long as they do not interfere with the next person (Schumalleger, 2009). These encounters are in private locations away from the watchful eyes of supervisors with the only witnesses oftentimes people who others may regard as unreliable.

These conditions along with the authority, power and discretion that are given to law enforcement personnel in order for them to carry out their duties, produces potential for abuse. There are three areas that if attention is given can aid in exterminating the problem. Officer training, incentive programs and personal characters can go a long way in the fight against corruption (Beshears, 2016). For a career that involves so much trust, hiring police officers who have good character is the first step. This can be the most difficult; however, for a number of reasons. Entrusting individuals with power that law enforcement possess can overwhelm anybody. Police corruption is a tremendous burden not only for the department involved but for society at large.

In the wake of corruption, it becomes so much easier for citizens to rationalizing their unlawful behavior. This creates more work for the law enforcement community as well. OVERVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Based on the studies considered above, police corruption is still a topic that has not been investigated extensively. Various challenges exist especially with the police as the primary source of data and the most experienced and knowledgeable individuals on this issue. The effort to find research police corruption, and find out its extent in the society, I chose a qualitative approach supported by a descriptive research design for the study. This method proved to be suitable in defining corruption, police corruption and investigating various types of police corruption as well as the factors that influence police corruption.

It helped to highlight various instances of police corruption as well as identifying various commissions that have unearthed key corruption scandals in the USA. The research also made use of content analysis and used data from past and current research. In addition, the research included a statistical analysis that included the history and theories on the cause of corruption in laws enforcement as well as workable solutions to the problem of the problem. Lab, Ph. D. , and Steven L. Brewer, Jr. , Ph. D. , and Steven L. Brewer, Jr. , Ph. D, is already analyzed and is only subjected to interpretation. Police corruption is one of the worst forms of corruptions in the society as it involves a breach in the trust and authority lent to the police by the sovereign power of the people through the constitution.

Police corruption has persisted over the years with not enough efforts in terms of research done in this area. It is almost unlikely that the police who are mandated to enforce the law engage in breaking at very consistent rates that disturbs the confidence that the citizens have in the police. From the literature review, this paper has demonstrated that police corruption takes various forms but is mainly groups as internal or external corruption. Internal corruption involves corruption among the police themselves while external corruption involves corrupt activities between the police and the public. (2016, July 5). How susceptible are police to corruption? Retrieved from public safety: https://inpublicsafety. com/2016/07/how-susceptible-are-police-to-corruption Delattre, E. J. Character and cops ethics in policing. Police corruption. Retrieved from Cliff: https://www.