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Police Corruption

Criminal Justice Ethics

Police Corruption

Police corruption refers to the misuse of police authority for personal gain. Officers use their position by act or omission, to obtain improper financial benefit. Corruption can be limited to one or two police officers or spread throughout a whole police department (Pollock, 2012, p. 178). Police abuse of authority has been categorized in three groups, which are:

• Physical abuse – This is where police officers use excessive force and instill physical harassment to suspected law offenders.

• Psychological abuse – This is when a police officer has features like disrespect, harassment, ridicule, excessive stops and intimidation.

• Legal abuse – This is where police officers perform unlawful searches and seizures, and conceals manufacturing evidence of various illegal goods (Pollock, 2012, p. 178).

I general, the most common police corruption practices include:

• Mooching - officers obtaining free meals, alcohol, grocery or other items.

• Prejudice - This is a form of racism where officers give the non-white less than impartial treatment.

• Extortion - This happens where police officers demand money in exchange for not filling traffic tickets.

• Chiseling - Officers demand for free admission to entertainment joints.

• Shakedown - This is where police officers take expensive items for personal use and attribute their loss to criminal activity during the investigation of a case of burglary.

• Favoritism - This is where police officers get immunity from traffic violations just because they are officers.

• Shopping - some officers steal small items from stores left unlocked after business hours.

• Bribery - This is where police receive payments of cash or other gifts for a past or future help

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