What are some causes of police corruption?
Factors contributing to police corruption are community standards, police chief attitudes, attitudes of the rank and file, police discretion, and prosecutor and court actions.
How is police corruption defined?
POLICE CORRUPTION, WHICH IS DEFINED FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS INQUIRY AS ACTS INVOLVING THE MISUSE OF AUTHORITY BY A POLICE OFFICER FOR PERSONAL GAIN FOR HIMSELF OR OTHERS, AND EXCLUDING POLICE MISCONDUCT MOTIVATED BY FACTORS OTHER THAN PERSONAL GAIN, IS A VERY SENSITIVE SUBJECT AMONG POLICE PERSONNEL.
Can corrupt police officers be prosecuted?
Since corruption involves criminal behavior, prosecution of corrupt police officers is possible. Since prosecutors depend on the police to gather evidence and develop cases, however, they often don’t want to “bite the hand that feeds them.” Legislators could reevaluate laws that create the potential for corruption.
What is the effect of corruption on law enforcement?
First, a corrupt act is a crime. Second, police corruption detracts from the integrity of the police and tarnishes the public image of law enforcement. Third, corruption protects other criminal activity such as drug dealing and prostitution. Protected criminal activities are often lucrative sources of income for organized crime.
How can we stop police corruption in America?
Legislators could reevaluate laws that create the potential for corruption. Such a reassessment would be based on the recognition that a major portion of police corruption is an outgrowth of laws that criminalize drug use, prostitution, and gambling. Any serious attempt to fight police corruption must wrestle with the decriminalization issue.
What is the rotten apple theory of police corruption?
According to the rotten apple theory, corruption is the work of a few, dishonest, immoral police officers. Experts dismiss this theory because it fails to explain why so many corrupt officers become concentrated in some police organizations but not others. Another explanation pinpoints U.S. society’s use of the criminal law to enforce morality.