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Responses to Police Corruption

There is no doubt that most police officers are honest and strive to be ethical in all they do; however, examples of corruption and graft in law enforcement agencies are not difficult to find. For our purposes, we divide misconduct into two broad categories: economic corruption and abuse of authority. To promote effectiveness and ethics it is important to understand the typology of economic corruption and abuse of authority. Corruption has been described as “acting on opportunities, created by one’s authority, for personal gain at the expense of the public one is authorized to serve.” Examples of graft involve a range of seriousness from “cheating a little” on over- time to sophisticated schemes that utilize police powers for private gain. Abuse of authority involves officers’ misuse of the power and authority inherent in their positions. Police officials sometimes don’t even know when the city settles because it is a decision made by city officials outside the police department. Police officers believe that city lawyers are too quick to settle “nuisance” claims, where the officer is not at fault; however, when such cases do go to trial, there is the risk of a much larger judgment. The important point to note though is that civil lawsuits seem to be independent from the department’s own discipline system and, rarely, is there the mechanism to take note of when officers become the target of lawsuits multiple times. These factors then provide an avenue for how to reduce misconduct. It is important to note at the outset that there is rarely only one factor or group of factors responsible for corruption scandals. Generally, a constellation of factors is present. The point is that, to a large degree, the community creates the police department by what it demands and what it is willing to overlook. For our purposes, we divide misconduct into two broad categories: economic corruption and abuse of authority. It is important to revisit the reason why we should revere and respect all police officers who voluntarily enter a profession where they offer their lives to save others.