Corruption in Law Enforcement - Research Paper Example

Rather, a synchronized policy framework is needed most. The present paper is aimed at focusing on the various aspects of corruption in the sphere of law enforcement and policing. The paper has three parts: Introduction, Discussion, and Conclusion. Discussion Corruption in law enforcement is a very serious problem because it is a kind of evil that can render the whole public administration system of a country defunct. When law enforcement officials began to indulge in accepting bribes in the form of prostitutes, money, luxury items, etc.

and help the criminals to escape the reach of law, a process of pervasive social and administrative deterioration sets in. Local notorious elements like the smugglers, mafia, sex racketeers, etc. may become so powerful that they begin to challenge the rule of law, disobey the authority of the state, and start their own system of organized crime. “Police agencies are constantly striving to improve recruitment, application, and training procedures and to identify those individuals best suited to fulfill the roles of the police officer.

It is therefore imperative to understand the nuances of officers’ perceptions of corruption to disseminate the most complete information as possible.” (Jenks et al, 2012, p. . Law enforcement is an area that is typically looked after by the government. Government acquires the necessary funds to finance the law enforcement departments from public sector and other sources of revenues. Sometimes, this money falls shorter than the expectations of the employees in the law enforcement department.

The problem may arise due to poor economic conditions, financial mismanagement, or negligence at the ministry level. The cumulative effect of these factors is that the public allocation process that is aimed at financing the various departments gets impaired and various government bodies, including the law enforcing authorities may experience fund crunch. Consequently, the wages of the law enforcement officials are not adjusted as per the increased costs of living and maintaining status. This leads to corrupt activities including bribery and espionage.

(Benson, 1988) One form of corruption is abuse of authority. “Abuse of authority was defined as having three types; physical abuse (i.e. excessive force and brutality), psychological abuse (i.e. harassment), and legal abuse (i.e. violating citizens’ rights). Corruption may also be conceptually divided according to whether it serves selfish or altruistic interests.” (Jenks et al, 2012, p. 7) Hence, when law enforcement officials start acting under the influence of some political agenda or anarchist attitude, the situation becomes even more complicated because then the immediate reason behind the corrupt activities is not simple and common greed.

In such a scenario, a crisis situation becomes inevitable and according to the experts like Barker (2011, p. 1), “police ethics” can restrain the officers in such situations. Police ethics advocate a systematic dedication to