What are the different types of police corruption? What themes run through the findings of the Knapp Commission and the Wickersham Commission? What innovative steps might police departments take to reduce or eliminate corruption among their officers?
What will be an ideal response?
Police corruption ranges from minor violations to serious violations of the law. Examples might include accepting gratuities, playing favorites, taking minor or major bribes, committing criminal acts, denying civil rights, or committing violent crimes. Researchers have also provided more specific categories of police corruption. Barker and Carter, for example, distinguish between occupational deviance and abuse of authority, and the Knapp Commission report distinguished between grass eaters and meat eaters. Both the Knapp and Wickersham Commissions found existence of the infamous “blue wall,” a contributing factor in police corruption. The willingness of police officers to tolerate corrupt behavior known to them rather than to report it (characterized as “ratting” on a fellow officer) baffles most observers. Another important theme is that when huge sums of money are available with which to tempt police officers, some yield. That is less a function of their status as police officers and more the result of their status as human beings. The kingpins of the illegal liquor trade during Prohibition amassed such sums. Even greater wealth is in the hands of present-day drug lords. It is no surprise that some of that money is put to use to corrupt some members of the law enforcement community. Like crime, corruption will never be eliminated. Human beings, by nature, are flawed; they will, on occasion, behave beneath expectations. Departmental leaders, however, can establish programs to minimize corruption. Ethics training must be emphasized. Additionally, formal and informal leaders within police ranks must create a culture wherein intolerance of behavior that diminishes the group is valued above misplaced loyalty toward a corrupt fellow officer.
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Directed patrol is a police-management strategy designed to increase the productivity of patrol officers through the scientific analysis and evaluation of patrol techniques
Comment on how ef-fective this strategy is and whether or not it actually works.
Under the Constitution, jury trials are not required in prosecutions of ______________ crimes
Fill in the blank with correct word.
Which of the following is not a source of conflict?
a. Competition over resources c. Ambiguity over authority b. Power differential d. All of the above
The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility in a formal opinion on Rule 3.8 has noted:
a. Courts as well as commentators have recognized that the ethical obligation is more demanding than the constitutional obligation b. Courts have recognized the need for prosecutors to hide exculpatory evidence in some cases c. Commentators recommend that misdemeanor cases revert to a preponderance of the evidence as the burden of proof to speed up the trial process d. That in some circumstances, the defense attorney may break privilege when the attorney clearly knows the defendant is guilty