Police Misconduct Case Study

1062 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Police misconduct and its impact

Police Misconduct
With all the authority and power that is gained by being a police officer, the job is bound to attract a few individuals looking to take advantage. While recruiting, the police aim to weed out those unfit for the job and its included responsibilities, but no system is perfect. Sometimes there are officers that take advantage of the system, just like people may do in any other job.
Rotten Apples The rotten apple theory suggests that there are only a few problem police officers in a force. They can be either individuals who slipped into their deviant ways because of the environment they worked in and how easy it was to take advantage of their job, or deviant individuals who continue their deviant ways in an environment that …show more content…

833), as well as polygraph examinations (p. 835). However, when individuals slip through these tests and into the police force other safeguards are needed to stop individuals from taking advantage. According to Rudy many officers do not like working with misconduct so they will report it if there are major problems (personal communications, November 11, 2015). Misconduct makes other officers look bad as well as the precinct so if there are rotten apples in an otherwise good group they would get reported. However, if an individual does something stupid/ minor police may not necessarily report that officer, because it is like if you see someone cheating on a quiz, you don’t always tell on them, how would that make you look (Rudy, personal communications, November 11, 2015)? With officer reporting they also have warning systems set in place to detect possible misconduct, which might help more in terms of the organized misconduct. These systems keep track of each officer in terms of statistics such as citizen complaints or overtime hours logged. To many citizen complaints can raise suspicion because if they are doing their job correctly, an officer should be making the general public happy. While with overtime, too much of it can mean that the officer is worn out, or having personal troubles such as needing more money (Rudy, personal communications, November 11, 2015). Both of these may influence an officer, making him much more likely to commit misconduct. So monitoring this can alert higher authorities to

Show More
Related

  • Baltimore City Police Case Study

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Baltimore City police have faced a myriad of problems in the last year. The riots following the Freddie Gray arrest were reported around the country and created a situation where the Governor was forced to call in the National Guard to protect the city. Community leaders report that African American’s are stopped, searched and arrested at a far greater number than Caucasian’s. The Baltimore city police are at an impasse with the community at this time, it is up to the city leaders and the police officials to come up with some real solutions to the issues that can no longer be ignored.

    Read More

  • Police Misconduct: The Case of Ian Tomlinson

    876 Words  | 2 Pages

    This report will be on the Police service. It will explain who the police are and their role and function within the Criminal Justice System and society. In addition, it will talk about police misconduct and the results of police misconduct within the police, government and society.

    Read More

  • Police Brutality Case Study

    1858 Words  | 4 Pages

    In today’s society, police officers are very cautious on how much force they can use on a suspect due to the police brutality going on right now. Police brutality is defined as the use of force exceeding what is necessary, many people argue that there should be new policies to determine how much force a police officer can use and also have laws that will convict officers who have killed people by using too much force, so that there is less incidents in the future.

    Read More

  • The Los Angeles Police Department

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although that gives the report a sometimes odd tone, defending a system that it admits failed badly, it also provides for some of the document's most evident soul-searching. One passage in particular warns of the consequences when police let down their guard. "Essentially, many of the problems found by this [Board of Inquiry] boil down to people failing to do their jobs with a high level of consistency and integrity," the report states. "Unfortunately, we found this to be true at all levels of the organization, including top managers, first-line supervisors and line personnel. Clearly, pride in one's work and a commitment to do things correctly the first time seems to have

    Read More

  • Police Misconduct and Corruption

    2505 Words  | 6 Pages

    Within our police system in America, there are gaps and loopholes that give leeway to police officials who either abuse the authority given to them or do not represent the ethical standards that they are expected to live up to by society. Because of the nature of police work, there is a potential for deterioration of these ethical and moral standards through deviance, misconduct, corruption, and favoritism. Although these standards are set in place, many police officers are not held accountable for their actions and can easily get by with the mistreatment of others because of their career title. While not every police abuses his or her power, the increasingly large percentage that do present a problem that must be recognized by the public as well as those in charge of police departments throughout our country. Police officials are abusing their power and authority through three types of misconduct known as malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance and these types are being overlooked by management personnel who rarely intervene even though they know what is happening. Misconduct is wrong because it violates rights and causes people to be wrongly accused of crimes or be found not guilty and set free when they are still an endangerment to other people. The public needs to be educated on what is happening in the police system in hopes that someone will speak out to protect citizens from being violated by police officers.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Slippery Slope Theory

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    They may have experienced some bad influences during their childhood. The police officer who corresponds to this theory may be involved in any kind of criminal activities, such as robbery, selling drugs, murder and others (policecrimes.com). It is said that this theory on corruption is when hired officials are not qualified enough for doing their job. One example of the rotten apple hypothesis is when officers are involved in police shakedowns. A shakedown is when the police extort a business owner for protection money. Shakedowns are common with strip bars, prostitution rings, drug dealing, illegal gambling, and even construction projects. Most shake downs involves gay bars because they are easy targets. Officers then threaten bar owners with violations if they do not make payoffs to them, and they promise to fix any violation reports that may have been processed through department channels against the

    Read More

  • Frank Serpico Biography

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    "A policeman’s first obligation is to be responsible to the needs of the community he serves…The problem is that the atmosphere does not yet exist in which an honest police officer can act without fear of ridicule or reprisal from fellow officers. We create an atmosphere in which the honest officer fears the dishonest officer, and not the other way around.", -Frank Serpico.

    Read More

  • Police Brutality Case Study

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    The article that I have chosen is the issue the National Football League (NFL) dealing with the protest of players taking a knee during the national anthem for police brutality. Fans on both sides of the controversial issue are calling for a boycott. One side view point is that the protest is unpatriotic, and is disrespecting the country, the flag, and members of the military services. While the other side perception of the ordeal is the originator of the protest, Colin Kaepernick, is being blackballed from the league for protesting police brutality happening to people of color. This is leading to process loss calculated by lower viewer ratings. This will affect the revenue in a negative way in future contracts with network television companies. As each day passes, the players are becoming disgruntle, the owners are becoming frustrated, and the fans disappointment is leading to other avenues of entertainment. To bring the situation to an amicable solution or process gain, the owners and the players must come together. The first imperative the NFL should do is by implementing taskwork processes to increase symbiosis between the owners and players. The second assignment the league needs to take is building teamwork processes to strengthen

    Read More

  • Police Brutality Case Study

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    police brutality is when a police officer use excessive force on a civilian under suspicion of a crime or not. Like this it's hard to know what is and is not excessive so collecting data can be very inaccurate. Based on the fact that I've found police brutality is shockingly far too common in the media recently has been blowing up with cases and its become even worse of an issue. Recently in Ferguson there have been riots due to the use of a policeman's firearm on on an unarmed man. These riots alone have costed the United States $6 million shops of been looted streets are so dangerous everyone there is either moved out or doesn't leave their home. Police now probably fear shooting any one which could cost lives. Citizens all over will fear if this will happen in their city.

    Read More

  • Police Misconducttion In Canada Case Study

    1726 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although police misconduct in Canada has been viewed primarily as a rotten apple problem, there are more systemic issues that exist in policing. Research suggests that police misconduct in Canada is both a rotten apple problem and a rotten barrel problem, with the latter not being as prevalent (Griffiths, 2015). That does not mean, however, that entire police services have not engaged in misconduct; that could simply mean that they do a good job of hiding it from the public. If there is widespread misconduct or corruption among a police service, it is understandable that the police service would try to conceal that from the public. This could also mean that there is a lack of research on misconduct and corruption in Canada. In fact, the majority

    Read More

  • Police Integrity And Integrity

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first step is to weed out the ones who just are not right to be a officer. The next step is to find the ones who fit the needs of the department. Medical and psychiatric testing, personal interview, and background information is used when identifying if a person is a good fit. There is research that has identified five personality characteristics that allows a police officer to excel in his or her job: extrovert, emotional stability, agreeable, conscientious, and open to experience. People also need to be aware of working in a high crime area. Even if the person has all five traits, but can’t handle the stress they may need to find another profession. There may be times new hires come from another department, but before hiring they need to talk to the previous employer. There may be certain reasons that the officer for hire is wanting to move to a different department. They could have been disciplined or terminated if they had not agreed to resign. This is not okay for the officers are not taking the consequences for their behavior.

    Read More

  • Law Enforcement and Ethics

    2227 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ethics play a huge role in a police officers line of work. Since police are given such a high degree of trust and authority, it can unfortunately be very easy for an officer to fall into some unethical behavior. This can range from just minor acts that are frowned upon, to actual downright illegal activity. Even though there are a countless number of acts and behaviors that can be considered unethical, in the following paper I will focus primarily on those incidents involving police officers who steal for their own personal gain, and discuss my position on the issue.

    Read More

  • Animosity In The Police

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    Police officers are a sign of protection, safety and justice. Their presence around a community is to help establish the feeling that the community is under watch all the time, helping some feel at ease, while making others feel tension and hatred. The past activities of a police force have left everlasting impressions in some people’s minds, making them feel that the police is out to get them, not help them, then pushing these feeling of animosity onto the next generation. This type of behavior is a continuous chain reactions, making the police out to be the bad guys, making the police work harder to prove that the past does not define the present or the future.

    Read More

  • Police Complaint Case Study

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    A complaint is a criticism or accusation expressed by someone who has experienced a particularly adverse happening, thing or fact. Any such aggrieved person may submit a complaint to the Station House Officer under whose jurisdiction the police station of the locality where the incident has taken place. A complaint may be of a public or private nature. Anyone can walk into a police station and lodge a complaint, and it is not true that only an aggrieved person can file a police complaint. In certain cases, such as those of Rape & Accidents, the victim is often not fit enough to personally come to the police station to lodge the complaint due to trauma, stress and fear. In all such cases, any individual having the information of

    Read More

  • How To Reduce Police Corruption

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    Being a police officer requires high level of ethics and standards. Corruption within an agency can affect a community, state, and even a nation. Corruption may seem inevitable but using proper screening, extensive and continuous training and holding officers responsible can deter officers from becoming corrupt.

    Read More

More about Police Misconduct Case Study

Open Document