Preview

Why Do Police Officers Abuse Their Power In Law Enforcement

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1062 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Do Police Officers Abuse Their Power In Law Enforcement
Corruption within Law Enforcement has been an ongoing issue for many years now and is a concern that only seems to grow. Many officers are perceived as authority figures that are corrupt and abuse their power, we turn on our television and witness an incident where an officer abused his/her power then just like that, they have made a bad name for all cops. Now, don’t get me wrong many officers abuse their powers in many ways simply because it’s easy to get away with but there are some officers that go to work for all the right reasons but people oversee that because of a couple bad apples. Police corruption seems to be a growing problem in the United States as well as most of the world. With higher reports of police cruelty, racial profiling …show more content…
Many believe that police officers abuse their power while racial profiling and that they target minorities. Minorities are more incline to commit crimes is what officers think, and this thinking leads to racial profiling. How can one say that a whole race of people is more inclined to commit a crime because of the color of their skin? It's poverty, and lack of options for more minorities than whites on average, and people are just venting, and frustrated with a system that they view as unfair to them. Sometimes these conditions drive some minorities to commit crimes to survive, and in some cases some minorities just don't care about the law. The same can be said about whites who live in poverty, and considered less educated than the average white. They too endure pain from being stereo typed as hicks, trailer trash, and white trash who commit …show more content…
Some internal approaches include: Strengthening police leadership, the chief and top administrators must clearly and publicly show their commitment to anticorruption policies. Developing clear written department policies and procedures that make it clear to the officers and the community what behaviors are and are not acceptable. Violations of policies must be followed up with disciplinary action. The problem here is often where exactly to draw the line. Finally focusing on corruption control at the training phase of policing to make sure that it is known from the very start that it will not be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    I agree with the Knapp Commission in organizing a council to research corruption in our law enforcement, alongside other infringement. Subsequently, with the Knapp Commission motivation, it seems that it concentrates on arraigning those law enforcement officers that are sharing in criminal activities. Corruption was at its maximum in the police department. There were officers that were labeled as grass-eater and meat eaters. A grass eater was the least notice because they were involved in taking small bribes from the citizen who was avoiding receiving jail time. On the other hand, a meat eater is an officer that hustles on a regular base with the uses of threat or intimidation. During the investigation the Knapp Commission found officers were involved in such crime as gambling, narcotics, prostitution, construction, receiving payoff to ignore crimes in bars and Sabbath law to name a few (Dempsey & Forst, 1973).…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police corruption has plagued this country for decades. Whether it's done out of need or greed, it affects every community and has tarnished the image of police departments across the country. Community relations are a vital part of police work and without it officers have a hard time doing their job. Corruption causes distrust and prevents officer from getting cooperation from the public. Police corruption has been glorified and documented in several movies throughout the years. It has been shown in old westerns with crooked sheriffs to more recent movies where corruption is seen from the lowest officer to the highest government officials. The reasoning for the corruption varies from character to character, however the end result is usually the same; either the officer pays or those around him do.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Capstone Paper Three

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Criminal justice can be defined as the upholding of social control, deterring crime, and punishing those who violate laws with criminal penalties or with rehabilitation efforts. Police corruption has had a sharp increase in the last decade with no indication of this trend being reversed, while some experts believe that we should work together in order to solve this problem there are others who say this problem will never cease so why even bother. Regardless of one’s point of view, it is very clear that there are some major police corruption issues that need correction.…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Article Review cjus300

    • 617 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Our society has become corrupt at each level, and the police force is no exception. While most officers are committed to maintaining honor and integrity in their service to the public, there will be crime or misconduct among both female and male officers (Gottschalk, 2011). Police officers should be upholding the image of sacrifice, dignity, and overall competency (Gottschalk, 2011). Unfortunately, corruption can happen and add distrust amongst the public toward the public service of police officers. These actions of misconduct can include oppression, racial profiling, physical or emotional abuse of power, overall mistreatment of citizens or prisoners in their care, extortion, misuse of information or perjury, and overall manipulation (Gottschalk, 2011).…

    • 617 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Police corruption has been around since there has been police. Two of the key elements of police corruption is misuse of authority and personal gain (Walker & Katz, 2011, p. 425). There are many types of corruption in a police department. First, gratuities in which are the most common form, whether you are taking free food from the gas station or a discount or your dry cleaning this can be considered as a form corruption. Some police departments prohibit gratuity and some do not. You have isolated acts that happen while a police officer is performing their duties, such as when a police officer takes money to protect a drug headquarters, which is called a bribe. There are lower forms of bribes where police take money from people to not write traffic summons and then there higher forms of bribes where police sell material from criminal cases. Third, you have theft and burglary which is a very serious form of corruption. Stealing money and property from drunken people is theft. There are also police officers that steal property from the police department’s property room. Internal corruption is when a police officer must bargain the best assignments or promotion with bribes.…

    • 1844 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rampart Scandal

    • 2952 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Corruption has been documented as early as the 1800's, while police departments often had strong rivalries and political and religious factions, in this era, the officers banded together routinely committing perjury to protect fellow officers against civil complaints.…

    • 2952 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Because of this, minorities are becoming angry that people are able to get away with reporting false crimes based on racial profiling. This allows them to feel harassed and violated because they are not able to live freely without the fear of being arrested over wrong accusations. This connects with the argument that racial profiling must gain notice and be stopped because people believe it is okay for them to take advantage of people. This shows how society creates an image that black people are aggressive and commit crimes. People should realize this…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many techniques have been issued to find a solution to the major ethical issues facing policing. The have improved hiring screenings, education, integrity testing, audits, internal affairs model and ethical leadership. None of these techniques…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When police officers target people based on race rather than their actions, trying to prohibit crime is less in effect and public suspicion of police develops. The communities that had been illegally targeted before may continue to have no trust and be terrified of police officers. Racial profiling is an ineffective method that demoralizes public sureness, we need stronger plans against racial profiling by police…

    • 66 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Police corruption seems to be a problem in the United States as well as most of the world. The simplest explanation why corruption exists is that the police officers are human beings and as such are prone to give in to temptation. Another widely held opinion is that the officers don’t get enough pay. No matter what are the reasons police corruption is abuse of authority and power; it is also betraying to the public trust. The researches proved that in socioeconomic disadvantage countries the percentage of corruption is higher. Countries like Zealand, Denmark, Finland and Canada has very few cases of corruption (pg. 176). Then we have countries like Afghanistan, Hungary and Pakistan where the corruption level is very high. According to…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The majority of society believes that racial profiling does not exist, yet it does. Racial profiling creates the psychological assumption that all minorities will most likely engage in criminal activity, whether it is intentional or unintentional. This form of criminal action is illegal and is a transparent form of racism. Racial profiling is a severe problem in today’s society, whether it is in the U.S or in other countries. This sort of action is not based on one category. It can be based on race, gender, appearance, religion, etc. Racial profiling and the inability to protect to the minority society has prevented the minorities from trusting the law enforcement. According to Ramirez (2000), racial profiling is defined as any police action…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    In the United States, drug-related police corruption is becoming an increasingly, unjustifiable problem throughout the ranks of law enforcement agencies. Many variables exist to explain the reason for their actions, but ultimately, what makes them do it? Knowing how to recognize a corrupted officer or one exhibiting signs of traveling down the wrong path is essential in order to mitigate the problem. Law enforcement leadership also plays a vital role in the identity and prevention of drug-related corruption.…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nypd Corruption

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Police corruption is a problem that has and will continue to affect us all, whether we are civilian or law enforcement officers. An examination of any newspapers or police-related publications on any given day will have an article about an officer that got busted committing some kind of illegal act. Since its beginnings, many aspects of it have changed, however, a lot of it remains and it seems to just keep growing. Even though being a policeman is one of the most commendable and honorable professions in society, there have been certain instances that demonstrate misconduct and corruption in terms of unethical violence, illegal drug abuse, bribery and unjustified arrests.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    People of color are more likely to be targeted by police officers by their assumptions they have on them. It shows the difficult relationship between the police and blacks in the united states. For example “The color of my skin means to them that I am likely a criminal and in need of police supervision” (Harris). This explains that the cops will tell by the color of your skin quickly assume and stop to check you for any purpose of searching you. For instance that is a reason society have lost the trust in police officers.…

    • 2028 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    African Americans are usually the targeted victims in the act of racial profiling. It is believed that an African American driver will be more likely stopped than a White driver. Some police officers share the belief that Black drivers will most likely possess an illegal substance of committing an illegal act. However, policemen argue that they do not base their arrests on race but are greatening their probability of a successful search. Some policemen also argue that the probability of catching a Black offender is greater than catching a White offender. Whether the statement is true or not, it places a bias on African Americans and White Americans. The belief that African Americans men are more likely to commit crimes is unfair and not true. One cannot base the behavior of all African American men on the ones that have done wrong and been imprisoned. Another belief of racial profiling is it is the cause of the racial disparities in the American prison system. There are many more African American men in the jail system than there are White men. The previous statement is mostly likely to be true. Because some policemen hold biases and have prejudices against African Americans, it will cause more African Americans to be placed in the jail system. Another instance of racial profiling involved African Americans owning nice material possessions such as a car or a house and African Americans being in a predominately White neighborhood. For example, in an episode of Family Matters, Eddie was in his car travelling through a predominately White neighborhood and was pulled over by the police for “failure to signal.” However, the routine traffic stop turned into nothing more than…

    • 2132 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays