Police Corruption Essay

depravity is a complex problem having its root and ramifications in society as a whole. rottenness is defined as improper or selfish exercise of power and influence puddlen over to a frequent office or to a special prospect one occupies in macrocosm life Definition of putrescence is sufficiently broad to include a range of such influenceivitiesA public official is muck up if he accepts coin or moneys worth for doing nearlything he is under a duty to do any expressive style, that he is under a duty not to do, or to exercise a legitimate discretion for improper reasons. McMullan (1961 183-4) paper bag (1985) broadens this definition in devil modes. He defines depravation as occurringWhen an official receives or is promised signifi buttockst customfulness or reward ( ain, group or presidencyal) for doing something that he is under a duty to do anyway, that he is under a duty not to do, for exercising a legitimate discretion for improper reasons, and for employing ille gal room to achieve approved closes.Punch has broaden the definition in the way that depravity is not always individual it can be in group or organizational and sometimes it also involves illegal per bounder to achieve the goals. putrescence in one form or separate has always existed in the country. The Bofors, HDW Submarine deal, Airbus deal, ABB Loco deal, Jain Hawala Racket, Sugar scam, earnest scam, Urea scam, Fodder scam, etc., argon a some example of putrescence in various departments. The tentacles of dappleion obligate spread to the system of administration from civil- policy-making-military. Thus no institution can claim itself to be necessitous from corruption. It has outright become the part of life and is a problem that has and leave behind continue to affect us tout ensemble, whether we are civilians or rightfulness enforcement officers. inappropriate the different executive wings of the government, the jurisprudence, which have maximum visibility in the society, are a pet theme for such corruption. In legal philosophy, corruption is usually viewed as the mis put on of authority by a lawfulness officer while in duty to fulfil personal ineluctably or wants.Few facts about law corruptionIt isPervasive corrupt practices are establish in some form in a great many law agencies in all societiesA go along problem there is evidence of corrupt practices from all stages of law recitalNot simply a problem of the lower ranks corruption has been found at all levels of the legal philosophy organizationNot simply pecuniary activities (including process activities) extending beyond bribery and extortion have been found.For a corrupt act to occur, three distinct elements of police force force corruption must be show simultaneously1) Misuse of authority,2) Misuse of official capametropolis3) Misuse of personal attainment. (Dantzker, 1995 p 157)It can be said that power inevitably tends to corrupt, and it is provided to be recogni zed that, while there is no reason to pretend that policemen as individuals are any less fallible than other members of society, good deal are often shocked and outraged when policemen are exposed violating the law. command police deviance can include brutality, discrimination, sexual harassment, intimidation, and illicit use of weapons. police corruption is a universal problem that has its regime in many countries and is a recurring issue that cannot simply be extraneous by repressive measures. patrol officers are the state made digit and plays a role of law enforcers, problem solvers and the most direct representatives of the state. They give their visible, uni organise, 24-hour presence on the streets and their crucial involvement in social encumbrance and law enforcement. If they are corrupt, then the citizens will lose their confidence in them. practice of law corruption is not an individual aberration it can takes rear from patrol to chief and can be generated by the or ganization itself.Corruption within police departments falls into 2 basic categories, which are orthogonal corruption and internal corruption. outer corruption It involves the relation of police with the public and can involve one or much of the adjacent activitiesPayoffs to policeBy essentially non-criminal elements who fail to comply with stringent statutes or city ordinances (for example, individuals who repeatedly violate traffic laws).By individuals who continually violate the law as a method of making money (for example, prostitutes, narcotics addicts and pushers, & professional burglars).2) fairish Graft where money or courtesy discounts or gratitude is paid to police for services.Internal corruption It is the relationship between various officers within the police department.Police corruption comes in various shapes and sizes from the major drug trafficking and money laundering to looking the other way on minor redundant-and-easy violations of the law.The typology of p olice corruption give by Roebuck and Barker (1974) has eight categories, to which Punch (1985) has added a ninth one (Table I).TABLE ITypes and dimensions of police corruption.Types Dimensions1. Corruption of authority 2. Kickbacks 3. Opportunistic theft 4. Shakedowns 5. Protection of illegal activities 6. The fix 7. coordinate criminal activities 8. Internal payoffs 9. Flaking or padding When officers receive some form of material agniseby virtue of their position without violating the lawper se (e.g. free drinks, meals, services)Receipt of goods, services or money for referringbusiness to grumpy individuals or companiesStealing from arrestees (rolling), from trafficaccident victims, crime victims and the bodies orproperty of dead citizensAcceptance of a bribe for not following through acriminal violation not making an arrest, file acomplaint or impounding propertyPolice security of those engaged in illegalactivities (prostitution, drugs, pornography)enabling the business to continue to give wayUndermining of criminal investigations or proceedings,or the losing of traffic ticketsA police officer commits a crime against person orproperty for personal gain in clear violation ofboth departmental norms and criminal lawPrerogatives available to police officers (holidays,shift allocations, promotion) are bought, barteredand soldPlanting of or adding to evidence (particularly butnot exclusively in drugs cases Punch 1985)Causes of the police corruptionTo find out the causes of police corruption one has to cogitate on the nature and the kind of police melt down. One of the old accounting suggests that corruption is the product of Bad Apple i.e. corruption is due to few number of police officers who are quite unrepresentative of the wider standards exhibited by the organization.Factors of police corruptionConstant factorsVariable factorsConstant factors include the following sagacity The exercise of discretion is argued to have both legitimate and illegiti mate bases. downhearted managerial visibility A police officers actions are often low in visibility as far as line management is concerned.Low public visibility Much of what police officers do is not witnessed by members of the public.Peer group secrecy Police culture is characterized by a high degree of internal solidarity and secrecy.managerial secrecy Police managers have generally worked themselves up from the beat and make do many of the values held by those they manage.Status problems Police officers are sometimes said to be poorly paid relative to their powers.Association with lawbreakers Police officers inevitably come into contact with a wide variety of citizenry who have an interest in police not doing what they have a duty to do. Variable factorsCommunity structure Refers to the degree of anomie, the political ethos, and the extent of culture conflict.Organizational characteristics Levels of bureaucracy, integrity of leadership, solidarity of work subcultures, moral li fe story stages of police officers, and the perception of legitimate opportunities.Legal opportunities for corruption Moral so-called victimless crimes (Schur, 1965) associated with the policing of vice. Regulative the exploitation of minor or trivial regulations such as those associated with construction, traffic and licensing.Corruption take cares How the guardians are themselves guarded.Social organization of corruption Two basic forms arrangements and events.Moral cynicism Association with lawbreakers and contact with enticement is inevitable in police work, inclining officers towards moral cynicism.Corruption control and PreventionBasically arrogant corruption is the only way that we can really limit corruption, because corruption is the by-product of the individual police officer, social views, and, police environmental factors. Therefore control must come from not only the police department, but also must require the assist and support of the community members. Controll ing corruption from the departmental level requires a strong leadership organization, because corruption can take put anyplace from the patrol officer to the chief.Various strategies can be followed to control corruption viz., Human resource management It includes amendment of the existing system, training and implementation of rising procedures.Anti-corruption policies Includes policies that would codify the standards of behavior of staff and outline the general parameters of the organizations response to the problem.Internal controls Emphasizes on detection and punishment of the wrong doings.External environment and external controls Involves the attempt to encourage the public to be more vigilant and more willing to report suspicions of corruption.Although the police department have to solve the problem of corruption on their own still some support and assistance from local community is required. Public should be given knowledge regarding the negative set up of corruption on t heir police agency. They should be taught even gratitude i.e. the most basic and common form of police corruption acts as a catalyst for more and future corruption.Earlier we use to think that corruption is a temporary, exceptional problem which can be removed by surgical treatment, as if it was a malignant cancer, to sterilise an otherwise healthy agency (the bad apple metaphor), but now things have shifted to see corruption as universal and as forming a permanent concern. wholly measures to control corruption have to take place in presence of sound leadership, sufficient resources and a battery of measures that should all be reinforcing the same mission and message. Thus it is the healthy leadership which is definitive and a focus on front-line supervision over the essential aboriginal processes at the base of the organization is required.The police organization deals with raft in trouble and people who cause trouble thus its cutting-edge is formed by uniformed officers and de tectives in situations of low visibility.There has to be a persistent, patient emphasis on integrity and professional standards and on thrust the message that a corrupt policeman is a criminal, that he or she lets down colleagues and the profession, and that noble-cause corruption is self-defeating. This is because, when it is exposed, it makes it more difficult to secure convictions and makes police methods untrusting (Rose 1996). Vigilance and realism must be the watchwords of the police administrator desire to control corruption.The emphasis, then, is on pride, professionalism, standards of competence and performance, legitimacy and of gaining and retaining confidence.ConclusionTo curb the general social evil, called corruption the efforts will have to come from both the police and the civil society. Society members should be educated about the negative effects of corruption within the police force and its long term disadvantages. For controlling corruption the police departm ent requires an organization lead by people of strong character and who have good leadership qualities. The departmental goal should be well defined and should be pursued earnestly.According to straightaways situation there is more urgent need to incubate basic issues like improving the on the job(p) conditions of the police persons, inhumanly long on the job(p) hours, the inadequate police-population ratio, a pay structure which is not proportional to the work allocated and, the disproportionately low budget for meeting the day to day expenses. All these are some major factors which are responsible for contributing to the icon of the Police Force as insensitive and a corrupt organization.As long as citizens are willing to go along with corrupt police officers, just for the reason to obtain favors, there is no way in which corruption can be curbed . Some effective steps should be taken to make the picture cleaner and corruption free for the future generation.Thus one should no t perceive corruption and other forms of police misconducts as individual aberrations of an incidental character that can be effectively banished by temporary, repressive measures.Reform of the police is the part of the disentangle of the society. It is important to focus on corruption control and to open our eyeball to other insidious forms of police misconduct and even serious police crime.ReferencesPunch Maurice (2000), Police Corruption And Its Prevention European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 8 301324.Newburn Tim, Understanding and Preventing Police CorruptionLessons from the Literature Research, Development and Statistics Directorate 50 Queen Annes gate London SW1H 9AT.Bracey, D. H. (1992) Police corruption and community relations Community policing in Police Studis Vol 15 No 4, 179-183.Sayed, T. and Bruce, D. (1998a) Police corruption Towards a working definition in African Security Review Vol 7 No 1, 3-14.Thomas KV (2004), Corruption in Indian Police.Holloway Br andon(2002),Police Corruption(2002, November). Police brutality, the copcrimes homepage for law enforcement and government corruption. Available http//www.copcrimes.com/homepage.html