Police Misconduct in the United States - Research Paper Example

 Police Misconduct In United States Introduction The term police misconduct is used to define the inappropriate activity conducted by police officials in relation to the duties that they have been assigned officially. Champion, the author of the book titled “Police Misconduct in America” defines the term police misconduct as any form of police activity that is improper in nature and is against the constitutional as well as ethical rules and regulation (Champion, 2001). Police misconduct is not a new concept in United States have existed for several years. Even after many years of effort made by different stakeholders to counter police misconduct in United States, the problem still prevails. According to a study performed by Hickman and Bureau of Justics Statistics a total of 2000 complaints made by the citizens regarding the police misconduct of excessive use of force were found to be true out of more than 22000 complaints made by the citizens (Hickman, 2006). These are just a few cases that have been reported and analyzed; several cases are unreported due to the fear of power and authority of the police officials. This research will focus on police misconduct carried out in the region of United States and the causes as well as the types of police misconduct and what reforms are in place to address the issue of police misconduct. Body Causes Of Police Misconduct There are various theories that may help in identifying the causes of police misconduct. One such theory is the rational decision making theory which states that individuals involve in deviant behavior if they have formed a perception that deviant behavior will result in more utility and less disadvantages of drawbacks. This means that police officials even weigh costs and benefits before carrying out activities that can be regarded as misconduct and if they are more likely to perform inappropriate activities if they perceive the benefits for those activities to be more than the drawbacks. Chappell conducted a study in which 3,810 police officers were involved and their perception regarding types of misconduct and severity of punishments were recorded (Chappell, 2004). The researcher identified that the severity of punishment for police misconduct involving exchange of gifts and meals was perceived to be quite relaxed. Another reason due to which police misconduct exists and is so hard to counter is peer pressure. Police departments may contain two different kinds of group. One group is that which promotes devious activity and is indulged in those activities and the other group complies by the rules and regulations. Individuals may become part of the group that promotes devious activity and in order to gain acceptance in that particular group, they may indulge in activities regarded as police misconduct. According to Chappell’s study police officers perceive that they are more likely to be severely punished if they use excessive force and they are their perception of the punishments related to exchange of goods and meals was less severe (Chappell, 2004). These perceptions are transferred by different members of a group to the new entrants and other group members. This means that since the perceptions about misconduct and severity of punishment are being transferred from one individual to another, police officials are more likely to indulge in those inappropriate behaviors that are considered to have fewer drawbacks associated to them if the same is perceived by higher ranks of the group. Types Of Misconduct There are different kinds of behaviors carried out by police officials in United States that can be categorized as misconduct. According to Chappell one of the most commonly inappropriate activities performed by police officers is the use of excessive force and the researcher even states that this form of misconduct is quite harshly penalized. Excessive force is defined under the 14th amendment of the constitution of the United States (bc.edu, 2014). Excessive force in United States is defined as the use of force by the police officer that is beyond the level of objectivity. Another form of police misconduct is sexual misconduct which is an umbrella term used to refer to various inappropriate behaviors that are carried out in relation to the gender of an individual as well as sexual incidences. Champion points out that there are various police activities that can be termed as sexual violence (Champion, 2001). These includes making arrests based on the basis of gender, harassing suspects as well as criminals in a sexual manner which may or may not include sexual intercourse as well as exchanging sexual benefits in return of dropping of charges. According to Cottler, out of a total of 318 women participants 25% of them reported positively for being a victim of police’s sexual misconduct and out of these 25%, 95% of the respondents stated that they had sex with an officer when he was on duty (Cottler, 2013). Exchange of gifts and meals is another form of police misconduct quite commonly reported. Police officials are involved in the act of taking bribes such as bribe money, estates as well as meals in return of dropping of charges for various crimes. The degree of gift bribe depends on the degree and severity of crime. Exchange of bribe gifts is less likely to be reported because in this form of misconduct both the police officer and the offender are benefiting. Reforms To Address Police Misconduct Over the years several moves have been made by the decision makers involving the judiciary as well as the government to address the issue of police misconduct. Police misconduct has been heavily addressed in the constitution of the United States of America. Various cases involving the issue of police misconduct has been taken up by the Judiciary and to a certain extend police misconduct has been countered in United States. Still the issue of police misconduct prevails in the justice department of the United States and more needs to done to completely wipe off the issue of police misconduct. The issue of police misconduct has been quite clearly addressed under Title 18 of the constitution of United States. Under this section of the constitution it is stated that individuals who are performing activities under color of law are not allowed to infringe upon any rights of a citizen that are protected by the United States’ constitution. The term color of law refers to all the people who have been provided with power by the government and this includes police officials (Justice.gov, 2014). Another reform in the constitution of United States that addresses the issue of police misconduct is Police Misconduct Provision under Title 42 (Justice.gov, 2014). Under this law police officers are restricted from using excessive force, discriminatory practices as well as sexual offenses in the line of duty. Those who experience misconduct are not provided any monetary treatment, but psychological treatments in shape of changing the culture of the police department and punishing the offender are addressed in this reform. Conclusion The activity of police misconduct is categorized as any inappropriate activity performed by police officials in the line of duty. Several reasons that promote police misconduct include relaxed punishment for police officials who get involved in such activities and peer pressure. The three main types of police misconduct include use of excessive force, exchange of benefits such as meals and gifts as well as sexual misconduct. Several reforms have been made to the constitution of United States to address the issue of police misconduct but the activity still prevails in the United States and more efforts need to be made in order to put a stop the activity. References Champion, D. (2001). Police misconduct in America (1st ed.). Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. Chappell, A., & Piquero, A. (2004). Applying social learning theory to police misconduct. Deviant Behavior, 25(2). Civil Rights Division Home Page. (2014). Justice.gov. Retrieved 19 April 2014, from http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/polmis.php Cottler, L. B., O???Leary, C. C., Nickel, K. B., Reingle, J. M., & Isom, D. (December 12, 2013). Breaking the Blue Wall of Silence: Risk Factors for Experiencing Police Sexual Misconduct Among Female Offenders. American Journal of Public Health, 3.) Hickman, M. J., & United States. (2006). Citizen complaints about police use of force: Law enforcement management and administrative statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Judicial illumination of the constitutional "twilight zone": protecting post-arrest, pretrial suspects from excessive force at the hands of law enforcement. (2014). Bc.edu. Retrieved 19 april 2014, from http://www.bc.edu/dam/files/schools/law/lawreviews/journals/bclawr/44_4/16_txt.htm Read More