Corruption and Accountability of Police Work

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Table of Contents

Poor Governance of Police Authority
Opportunities for Corruption
Community and Political Context
The Factor of Old Habits
Managerial Secrecy
Low Managerial Visibility
Association With Lawbreakers
Discretion and Poor Pay
Reference List

Corruption is arguably the root of all evil in the world today, and for that reason, it has become a constant burden to governments and law enforcement agencies allover the world. The normal day-to-day work of law enforcers is normally fraught with many challenges with corruption forming a better part of these issues. This is whereby police officers indulge in unethical activities that do not align with police authority for personal interests. The corruption of law enforcement officers is an issue that spans cultural organizations, nations and generations because it is perpetrated by inevitable human weaknesses and motivations. Quite a big number of studies have shown police officers to be among the top agents of corruption in the society today. This research essay plan explores a number of topics about some of the common reasons why corruption is a necessary and unavoidable aspect of police work.

Poor Governance of Police Authority

Accountability of police officers in their work is mainly determined by the form of governance administered upon them by the law enforcement agencies under which they serve (Westmarland 2005). Police governance simply refers to the nature by which the law enforcement is implemented and exercised in ensuring that police officers fulfill their duties in a proper manner. In this regard, lack of strong and proper policies on misconduct and unethical behavior in the line of duty has helped to perpetrate the corruption of law enforcement officers in various sectors of their work.

Opportunities for Corruption

There is no doubt that, as crime boosters, law enforcement officers tend to come across many illegal incidents in their day-to-day work. Some of these incidents may include theft cases, bad or illegal commercial activities, and the trade or use of banned drugs. In most cases, police officers are bribed with huge amounts of money to protect those engaging in such illegal activities, thus enabling the activities to continue taking place (Tyler 2006).

Community and Political Context

For many years, corruption has continued to pose negative impacts to all systems of the economy, thus calling for serious attention from both authorities and citizens. This concern has seen cultures, nations, and generations establish within themselves measures that would aid in eliminating corruption from their circles. This, however, has not been very successful considering the mixed tastes of different parties and organizations on the issue of corruption. While there are those who disregard the practice and are willing to unite against it by all means, there is another category of people who will tend to perpetrate the activity simply because they benefit from it (Punch 2000). In this regard, the extent to which corruption is tolerated by both the community and the political authorities will largely influence the accountability of police officers in corruption.

The Factor of Old Habits

Corruption is believed to have been part and parcel of law enforcers since time immemorial. As a result of this mentality, people have always viewed police officers as people who can easily be persuaded using money. This way, people have engaged in all sorts of illegal activities without fear using their money and power as security (Sen 2010). On the same note, corruption has always been linked with law enforcement agencies, and in that case, modern-day police officers are just trying to follow the old habits of their predecessors as far as this issue is concerned.

Managerial Secrecy

In most cases, managers and supervisors tend to share the values and habits of their subjects. This would have the meaning that, senior police officers will sometimes cover and protect those they manage as far as they get their share of the money received from the illegal deals (Skolnick 2002). In some cases, the chain of corruption in the police force begins from the top positions downwards, thus making corruption a detrimental force to every aspect of the economy.

Low Managerial Visibility

Policing work is mostly carried out away from the managers’ or supervisors’ view. This exposes police officers to an atmosphere conducive to all forms of corruption, thus making them easy preys of bribery (Prenzler 2009).

Association With Lawbreakers

Normally, law enforcers inevitably interact with all sorts of bad people who are willing to part with any amount of money to get protection for their illegal activities (Miller 2003). Based on this observation, there have been reports of law enforcers falling in the hands of powerful gangs who are willing to subvert ethical police operations for their own selfish motives.

Discretion and Poor Pay

Discretion and the minimal benefits given to police officers in some countries have greatly contributed to the officers’ involvement in corrupt dealings and activities. In some cases, police officers tend to find themselves in a dilemma on whether or not to reveal information about criminal activities, especially if this poses threat to their lives or if it involves some powerful personnel (Gillard & Flynn 2012). In such scenarios, police officers would opt for the bribes offered to them by those involved rather than risk it all. More importantly, police officers tend to engage in corrupt activities to subsidise their salary which they think is not up to the standards of their risky job.

Reference List

Gillard, M & Flynn, L 2012, Untouchables: Dirty cops, bent justice and racism in Scotland Yard, Bloombury, London.

Miller, J 2003, Police corruption in England and Wales: An assessment of current evidence, Home Office, London.

Prenzler, T 2009, Police Corruption: Preventing Misconduct and Maintaining Integrity, CRC Press, New York.

Punch, M 2000, ‘Police corruption and its prevention’, European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. 301-324.

Sen, S 2010, Enforcing Police Accountability Through Citizen Oversight, Sage Publishers, London.

Skolnick, J 2002, ‘Corruption and the blue code of silence’, Police Practice and Research, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 7-19.

Tyler, T 2006, Why People Obey the Law, Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Westmarland, L 2005, ‘Police ethics and integrity: breaking the blue code of silence’, Policing and Society, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 145-165.

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