Understanding Corruption: Aristotle, Cicero and Beyond

Chapter 3: Defining corruption and the Code of Silence

The term corruption means “utterly broken”. The word was first introduced by Aristotle and later by Cicero who considered the term to identify with “bribe” and “abandonment of good habits”. Hauben (n.d.) describes the totality of corruption:
He realizes that, "corruption brought by bad habits is so great that it extinguishes, so to speak, the sparks given by nature and allows corresponding vices to spring up and flourish." Cicero does not explain the cause of 'bad habits' except to point to self-interest as “the source of everything pernicious."(Ibid.) But despite the corruption, "we are born for justice and that what is just is based, not on opinion, but on nature”.

If an officer is questions about it, ignorance is bliss. The Blue Code is perhaps a contemporary term for police corruption or misconduct. Officers who engage themselves in a discriminating fashion are considered to be corrupt. Discrimination includes the harassment and pulling over of a predominant race or nationality. All acts outside of the oath of office should, and perhaps is in many areas, grounds for immediate termination. However, it is unlikely due to the unwritten laws of

(In my hometown, a local McDonald’s often gave deputies free meals; Exxon would give officer’s free coffee, another local store would give free donuts and coffee)
• Kickbacks: getting paid for referring others to a particular business
• Opportunistic theft: stealing of items from arrestees, crime victims, and yes, even corpses.
• Shakedowns: accepting monies or bribes in exchange for not pursuing a criminal violation
• Protection of illegal activity: receiving payments from owners of illegal organizations such as drug dealers, back room casinos, etc.
• “fixing”: the purposeful withholding of evidence or failing to appear at a court hearing in order to undermine the judicial process

• Direct criminal activities.
• Framing” planting or adding evidence, especially in large level drug cases
• Hazing: from within law enforcement groups
• Ticket fixing: canceling tickets as favors to friends, family, or to protect criminals
• Excessive force: the use of force beyond the scope of what is truly needed in a particular