Police Misconduct And The Criminal Justice System

Police unethical operations, imposes high cost on police, the criminal justice system, and society. Criminal activity by a police officer undermines the basic integrity of law enforcement and the grounds which the laws were based on. Regardless if an officer takes a small bribe or is involve in a drug trade, the corruption forever change the relationship between communities and the face of justice. . . Unethical Police Operation When a Police Officer abuses his authority, it is called police misconduct. Police misconduct is a broad term used to describe police corruption and police brutality which include violations of state and federal laws, the violation of an individual’s constitutional rights, and the abuse of police authority for†¦show more content†¦Police corruption can defined as any prescribed act involving the misuse of the officer’s official position for money or money’s worth or personal gain (Barker Roebuck, 1983). Three elements identify police corruption 1) the behavior must be forbidden by law, rule, regulation and ethical standard. 2) The behavior must involve the misuse of the officers’ official position i.e. if the officer fails to do something he or she is supposed to do or does something against what he or she is supposed to. 3) The reward for corrupt acts should be money or money’s worth. Once an officer is involved in any type of form of corr uption it can interfere with the police officer’s performance Types of Corruption One of the most common and prevalent type of police corruption is that of bribery and extortion. According to Lyman (2009), bribery is initiated by the citizen while extortion is initiated by the officer. This type of corruption involves the officer accepting a sum of money or a gift in exchange for avoidance of past or future prosecution. Law enforcement officers use of discretion is distorted because the acceptance of such gifts represents corrupt behavior. When officers are presented with such stimulus (gifts) and they accept such stimulus (gifts), these interferers with the officer carrying out his or her duty in