Police corruption - Research Paper Example

However, meat eaters are those corrupt police officers that intentionally and knowingly participate in activities of corruption and spend a considerable deal of time looking for such activities and situation from where they could extract personal gains. Furthermore, these police officers satisfy their conscience through reaffirming themselves that the people that target such as pimps, drug dealers and gamblers deserve such treatment and exploitation because they are destroying the society. Although, on a global level, police corruption levels within the United States may not be alarming enough, in absolute terms, police corruption is becoming a concern for the criminal justice system.

For example, a recent study conducted in 13 different stats found out that only 56 percent of the people viewed police officers as having high and respectable ethical standard as compared to the 89 percent people that feel the same about nurses (Prenzler, p. 202). Furthermore, unlike other crimes and societal issues, it is difficult to uncover police corruption or obtain statistics about the same. Police officers are trained individuals to deal with crime and therefore, even if they are corrupt or involved in crimes, they know how to cover their tracks.

Furthermore, whistle blowing can be extremely dangerous, life threatening and rare steps in the police department as evident from the case of Franck Serpico in the early 1970s. Nevertheless, over the past few decades, many scandals have appeared on the surface, which indicate that substantial police corruption is prevalent in several police department all across the United States (Office of International Criminal Justice, p. 16). Consider the example of Los Angeles Police Department Rampant Division in the late 1990s, which was rocked to its sheer core when the Rampant Scandal broke which implicated more than 6 dozen police officers in several misconducts.

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