Strategies for Reducing Police Corruption - Essay Example

Police corruption Abstract The term corruption describes activities that range from bribery to preventing course of justice and exercise of power for a personal benefit. Commentators vary in the depth of corruption definition as some count sex on duty as misconduct and others take it as a form of corruption. In my paper, I will analyze this spreading vice among the police. I have attempted to show the various means in which police involve in corruption and the forces that drive them to these acts. I have also been keen to compare common corrupt practices among different countries. The paper has tried to analyze the impact of police corruption to the national growth and economic relations. The paper gives an evidence for the investigation on police corruption and reveals the endemic and systematic procedures involved in police network groups. To conclude, I have analyzed some effective strategies that are applicable to curb the spreading police corruption incidences. Police corruption refers to the abuse of power or position over the members of the public for the primary intention of furthering private or departmental advantage. Police corruption encompasses both the means and the features of the corrupt acts. Police corruption compromises the deliberate unlawful conduct by action or omission by a member of police service by utilizing his position whether in duty or off duty. It includes the exercise of police power in bad faith either motivated by financial or personal benefit inconsiderate of whether it becomes successful or not. In all these cases relevant conduct is a corrupt consideration (Barker, 2011). The vice is a complex issue especially with the police operating in an environment that offers not only a favorable environment for temptation but also gives opportunities where the police have no option but to participate in the corrupt acts. Most caught incidences of police corruption have shown that some police participate in corrupt practices because of fear of ostracize from other officers. The common belief among the police has been that all suspects are guilt despite lack of evidence (Villiers and Adam, 2003). In the general sense, police corruption is criminal. Direct involvement of a police in either organized or common crime in the building of crime enterprises disturbs the perversion of the police turning the protectors into perpetrators (Velez, 2006). The police corruption can take place on small or large scale in either established or widespread practice. A common form of criminal collusion among the police is the collection of kickbacks and extortion of payments from criminals where the police demand a certain percentage from his service. Politicians may interfere with normal functioning of the police by initiating corrupt practices. Politicians can induce police to allow, ban, or break public demonstrations with violence for political stripe. They may oversee a range of laws and regulations by fixing permits and citations that intimidate others on favor of a politician (Barker, 2011). Police corruption carries high cost as it detracts the public faith from the police and derails the public image of the law enforcement duty. It protects criminal activity like drug dealing and prostitution, which have an effect on the general welfare of any country. The protected criminal activities are more often than not lucrative sources that will translate to organized criminal acts. Police corruption is the work of the few dishonest and immoral police officers who put their interest first other than serving the nation. Many police corrupt acts have currently concentrated on an organized structure. Unenforceable laws governing the moral standards promote corruption they provide criminal organizations with a financial interest that undermine the law enforcement (Villiers and Adam, 2003). Police corruption analysis conjures many images and stereotypes in the professional context. Police corruption is a universal challenge to any nation building as it wastes resources, undermines security, makes a mockery of the constitutional justice, slows down economic development, and alienates populations from their governments. These obstacles make it hard for the government to fulfill its basic roles to the entire population (Barker, 2011). Corruption in the police, as an administration form, means denial of justice for all public members. It undermines fair trials, fair election processes, denies economic and social opportunities to the entire population, and limits the access to the public human necessitates like food, housing, health, and education. Therefore eliminating police corruption is a very essential requirement of the building of any nation and achieving the national objectives (Velez, 2006). Ignoring the police corruption issue, means that international efforts to build nations remain to be futile. The notion of “noble-cause corruption” that is illegal actions undertaken to achieve laudable ends contradicts the police duty execution. The noble misbehavior of the police undertakes the presumption that they will achieve a larger social good in extrajudicial activities like killing of vicious criminals, and or dropping malicious prosecutions (Villiers and Adam, 2003). Like any other norm and value in an institutional setting, police corruption shapes from the culture and context of social obligations. The culture of police in a country determines whether an activity is corruption or not. For instance, police actions that have consideration as corrupt acts may be s social obligations or simply good manners in a different society. Police corruption in the developing countries is more pervasive and visible in the developed countries. In the developing countries, police corruption is an open fact for anyone who encounters the police officer whether voluntary or forced. In the developed countries police corruption takes place in dark rooms and out of sight and is usually confined by the large shadowy of vice regulation (Barker, 2011). The vice concentrates among officers who commonly work undercover rather than uninformed officers who are often visible. The police investigating commissions identify as the most vulnerable segment to corrupt practices in the United States. This is different from the situation in India where the traffic police are practicing high levels of corruption. Police corruption affects the public regard for the police in terms of their legitimacy (Velez, 2006). Standard strategies for reducing police corruption are necessary for the national building purposes. Reforms are necessary in the police culture, management recruitment, disciplinary processes of the corrupt police and the external environment where the police work. Another important recommendation over the police corruption is to hold the police supervisors responsible for the integrity of their subordinates. They should also be responsible for reforming the merit promotion and assignment, changing police culture, and creating training programs for the recruits and in-service personnel. Creating an effective internal integrity in the monitoring unit, which evaluates the integrity of all officers, may make an impact in the improving the standards of performance of the police and reducing the corruption incidences. The governments of the various countries should create oversight committees the account for implementation of all state recommendation made concerning the police integrity (Barker, 2011). A greater attention is necessary for developing a moral conducive climate for effective self-regulation and pro-active anticipation of the police forces. The police reform policy should involve essential administration solutions that involve the government and the policing management. References Barker, T. (2011). Police Ethics: Crisis in Law Enforcement. Houston: Charles C Thomas Publisher. Velez, M. (2006). Leading to Scandal: A Case Study. Chow, Chi Yin: ProQuest. Villiers, P. and Adlam, R. (2003). Police Leadership in the Twenty-First Century: Philosophy, Doctrine and Developments. Virginia : Waterside Press. Read More