Police Corruption - Research Paper Example

There is a wide range of police jurisdictions and considerable costs are paid by society in general as well as the police services as a result of such misconduct. Herman Goldstein defines it as “acts involving the misuse of authority by a police officer in a manner designed to produce personal gain for himself or others.” It is a larger systematic problem which is due to the lack of overall transparency, no checks and balances, weak rule of law, and insubstantial institutions. Police Corruption generally occurs at two levels: In the office i.e. behind the scenes or on the streets such as bribery or involvement with criminals.

The backroom corruption activities involve irregular practices such as negligence in enforcing internal discipline, stopping of investigations, payments for transfers or appointments, and contracting. All these unethical and mischievous acts involve very large transactions and are committed by officers having command authority (mid or senior-level officials) and access to the privileged information. Officers avail such opportunities in pairs or alone in the absence of supervisors or any higher authorities.

The extent may vary from petty corruption to large-scale criminal acts which are endowed by the extraordinary powers given to the police officials. In the 1980s and 1990s, corruption cases occurred on a very large scale involving and later charging police officers for drug dealings, robberies, batteries, and even murders, etc. It can be observed that there are two major elements of police corruption namely misuse of authority/power and misuse of personal attainment. At each level, these elements are misused in one way or the other posing a great hindrance in the efficient and effective working of the police department.

It can be said that police officials have been a part of encouraging and creating crime rather than deterring it.