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Introduction
Police corruption is one of the oldest and a persistent problem in police agencies. What is corruption? Corruption can be defined as the misuse of public power for private or personal profit (Newburn, 1999). This is a problem that has and will continue to affect us all whether you are a citizen or a law enforcement officer. There are many factors involved that could motivate an officer to abandon his/her moral and ethical beliefs. Management, education, and work related stresses are major factors of police corruption. A major …show more content…
The controversy over this issue is overwhelmed by the unsupported assumption that all race-based decision making by police officers is motivated by individual police officers’ racial prejudice (Fredickson, Siljander, 2002). Often “racial profiling” is confused with criminal profiling. Racial profiling is defined as crime detection where in police officers are perceptive to various indicators suggesting that someone may be engaged in criminal activity (Staples, 2011). This practice is viewed as legal and necessary action in the fight against crime. Racial profiling is defined as any police-initiated action that relies on …show more content…
Examples of noble cause corruption are planting or fabricating evidence, lying on reports or in court, and generally abusing police authority. Law enforcement officers often see bending the rules for the greater good is understandable rather than defined as misconduct or as corruption (Cox, Johnson, 2004). Officers can rationalize such behavior as part of the job they were paid to do and are what the public wants. It is seen by some a way to get the criminals off the streets, regardless of the means employed (Cox, Johnson, 2004). Poor training, education, management and arrogance can lead to noble cause corruption within police