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Police corruption in los angeles
Corruption as a problem with police discretion
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Police corruption is an inevitable part of our society. The rules of our capitalistic society empower people that possess the power of the law to bend it to suit their own selfish desires. Our society inspires greed especially in the hearts of those who pretend to protect us. Civilians and law enforcement officers alike are seriously affected by this problem.
One constant aspect of police that has remained relatively unchanged is corruption. Media plays a major part in covering up the aspects of police corruption. Local newspapers should be filled with articles about a police officers that have been arrested for committing a corrupt action. Officers have historically stole money from drug dealers and distributed drugs. Unfortunately,
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“Giving a person the kind of power a policeman has can overwhelm one”() Any institution can be susceptible to greed and unethical behavior. Corruption in this context refers to the use of authority by a police officer to fulfill personal needs or wants. The three criteria for a act of corruption are: “1) misuse of authority, 2) misuse of official capacity, and
3) misuse of personal attainment.” (Dantzker, 1995)
Police have attempted to remove corruption through increasing salaries, and requiring more awareness of the issue of corruption. Police organizations have also suggested to “hire police officers of good character.”() In spite of attempts to control corruption, it still exists.
Controlling corruption seems to be the only effective way to really limit corruption. Control in this context must come from the police department, and communities that desire change.
A way that police agencies can control its corruption problem can be in the hiring process and through in the officers’ career. I believe ethical decisions and behavior should be promoted, because encourages other officers who have witnessed their peers commit corrupt acts to speak
In the late 1990s a new corruption started in the Community Resources against Street Hoodlums or also known as CRASH anti-gang unit within the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles police department. Many officers were proven and convicted of committing unlawful beatings and shootings against gangs. Officers were also convicted for offenses such as, implanting false evidence, theft, bank robbery, distributing illegal drugs, and perjury. The Rampart scandal caused the public to be very concern towards corruption involved in law enforcement since many cases were never tried as of 2008; this demonstrated a high degree of corruption issues. (“The Rampart scandal.” WiseGeek.)
Different researches and enquiry commissions have come up with different reasons as to why corruption prevails in the police force. We will look at some of the most probable causes which apply to WA Police.
For years police corruption has been a major problem in American society but where is the line between moral and unethical police corruption, many modern movies address this vary issue. Some films portray how types of police corruption can have a positive influence on society, while others show the dark side of police corruption. Many law enforcement agents join the criminal justice with the basic idea of “justice for all,” however, most of them do not realize that the nice guy doesn’t always win. Even though there are vast amounts of movies which specifically address police corruption we will use three main movies for our argument today, mostly LA Confidential, however, also Training Day.
Serve and Protect are common words associated with police officers, however some law enforcement officers taint the honor and integrity of the job. Police Corruption is a serious problem affecting nearly every city across the country and world. Curbing police corruption is a tall order; however, improving the recruitment and training process and internal controls can bring this issue to an abrupt stop.
There are many people who are blind to police corruption and there are many who aren’t. As stated before police corruption has been going on for several years, and continues to go on. Officers with high ranks most of the time are the leaders of this action. Somewhere down the line all the bad they have done while wearing that uniform, will catch up with them. Most of the time the subculture will be the cause of an officers actions.
There are several ways police departments can take to reduce police corruption. The three areas I think should change are the training officers in how to diminish abuse, improving the personal character of officers, and incentives program. The Los Angeles Sheriff Department is the largest law enforcement agency in the United States under the leadership of Chief Leroy D. Baca, now retired. The Sheriff Department has about 18,050 employees with an annual budget of $2.5 billion, according to http://sheriff.lacounty.gov. The Sheriff’s Department serves the Superior Court of Los Angeles County and also manages the county jails.
A simple greedy thought can hurt many people. “The illusion of simplicity crumbles when one considers the many contexts in which this “effects” scenario can arise.(Erbsen, 2015 pg.389 )” They can not only hurt themselves and the state but it can also hurt the reputation of the police as well. “Honest officers are silenced by their fear of ``ratting ' ' on another cop no matter how grave the crime. Supervisors often fear the impact of a corruption scandal on their careers more than corruption itself. No institution wants its reputation tainted. But police departments have uniquely powerful incentives to avoid uncovering corruption (Armao et al, 1994).” The people need the police more than they think and if they think that they are run by corrupt officials then they will lose all faith in their police force and the police force will end up hurting their city thus end up hurting their state. “Corruption and misconduct undermine police efforts in tackling crime and protecting communities; they limit the effectiveness of police actions and have a detrimental effect on public confidence in the police (Wright, 2010 pg.339) If the police can be honest with the people and with themselves then the corruption could be dealt with even if it means the police’s reputation is tarnished. “Every police force faces the challenge of
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.
Corruption in policing is viewed as the misuse of authority by a police officer acting officially to fulfill his/her personal needs or wants. There are two distinct elements of corruption; 1) misuse of authority, 2) personal attainment. The occupational subculture of policing is a major factor in both creating police corruption, by initiating officers into corrupt activities, and sustaining it, by covering up corrupt activities by other officers. Police corruption is a complex phenomenon, which does not readily submit to simple analysis. It is a problem that has and will continue to affect us all, whether we are civilians or law enforcement officers. Since its beginnings, many aspects of policing have changed; however, one aspect that has remained relatively unchanged is the existence of corruption. Police corruption has increased dramatically with the illegal cocaine trade, and the officer acting alone or in-groups to steal money from dealer and/or distribute cocaine themselves. Large groups of corrupt police officers have been caught in New York, New Orleans, Washington, Dc, and Los Angeles. Corruption within police departments falls into two basic categories; internal corruption, involving relationships among the police within the works of the police department (ex: promotions or favored assignments, usually purchased with bribes) and external corruption, which involves police contact with the public. There are many different forms of corruption; gratuity, involving free meals, free dry cleaning and discounts; bribery, involving the exchange of money or something of value between the police and wrong doer (this is very common among narcotics officers); theft and Burglary, involving office...
It is often said that power brings corruption, but in reality it is an individual’s lack of character, self-discipline, and integrity that leads to corruption. Law enforcement can bring many temptations on the job, and maintaining an up most level of personal integrity can often times be very difficult. The very nature of the job surrounds officers with all of the bad things that society, produces. There can be an endless amount of training and rules put into place to try and deter officers from committing unethical acts, but in the end it really just comes down to the specific individual and their willingness to do the right thing.
In this essay, I will examine the ethical issues surrounding police corruption and discretion in the criminal justice system. I will also define legality and equity and how they relate to police corruption and discretion. Police corruption and discretion are ethical issues that have been negatively impacting the criminal justice system for years. Police corruption weakens the public 's confidence in law enforcement officers. It also hinders the effectiveness of law enforcement officers whose job is to serve and protect. I will also define police corruption and discretion and the reasons behind police misconduct.
In our times, the police have become the criminals. Some police are using their power to do bad things, and society has come to fear police. The law enforcement system needs change. The courts have failed the police, and the police have turn to other means of justice. We must stop the corruption in the police force.
Police corruption is a nationwide problem that has been going on for many years. Not only is corruption a problem on our own U.S. soil, but police practices of corruption go as far east as Europe and Asia. Many studies, polls and examinations were taken to find out how exactly what the general publics’ opinions of the police are. Officers receive a lot of scrutiny over this issue, but for good reason.
What is police corruption? Overall police corruption is an officer’s personal gain through the misrepresentation of police power. Police corruption comes in many forms. It can be as insignificant as accepting a free cup of coffee from a coffee shop, accepting bribes in lieu of investigation or arrest, ticket fixing, and greed. Cases of police corruption are cited frequently across the United States. Corruption is nothing new, but why does it continue to go on within law enfo...
All in all, police corruption is comprehended as the activity of offices or institutional police on-screen characters that don’t consent to the practices lawfully received by the foundation. In this way, mentalities, for example, association with wrongdoing (when police move makes put keeping in mind the end goal to encourage the event of criminal conduct), misappropriation of the result of seizures of merchandise, additional authoritative increases acquired in return for assurance, blackmail, separated use of Law on social minorities, illicit gathering for security (as with volunteer armies) are only a couple of cases of how police corruption shows itself (Sabet,