Police corruption Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Police corruption - Research Paper Example Police has been vested with enormous powers; these powers are essential for maintaining the rule of law. However these powers can also be the source of corruption as people are usually at the mercy of the police officers in many circumstances where they have been wronged. People who have been fighting for democracy and governance regard the issue of fighting police corruption with utmost importance. Police must not only serve the common man but should also be seen as serving the common man. This is essential if basic human rights have to be protected and people have to live in safe and secure environments. When people who have been entrusted with the task of protecting people, engage in corruption themselves it leads to cynicism and may erode public confidence in democracy. Police corruption is not a standalone issue. It is a function of larger systematic problem which is compounded by lack of transparency , absence of checks and balances and fragile institutions. Although the popular perception is always that police corruption is rampant and should be death with an iron hand it is not always possible to do this. The government and the judiciary have to always take sensitivities into account. This paper tries to find out the different kinds of police corruption that are prevalent and also tries to find out the solution to the problem through a systematic method. Understanding Police Corruption In very simple terms corruption may be defined as the use of public powers in order to get personal gains. Police corruption occurs at both the levels – on the streets and also behind the scenes in offices. Officers corruption range from petty corruption to collusion with criminals where the look the other way and do not perform their constitutional duties. The extreme end is when police officers themselves take part in criminal activities in order to have financial or other benefits. Police officers have been vested with enormous powers in order to enforce law. These include the powers to stop, question, search, arrest people and even use lethal force whenever circumstances deteriorate. The important thing is that police have extraordinary amount of discretion in the exercise of these powers which give ample avenues for corruption. Backroom corruption in the police department does not consist of the use of these powers but involves irregular a nd illegal practices in the award of contracts, receiving kickbacks for favorable appointments and transfers and negligence in investigations and discipline. This corruption is done by supervisors and senior officers and thus the amount of money involved is also large. We will analyze each of these cases of corruption in detail here. Petty Individual Corruption Whenever we talk about police corruption to a common man, the most common type of corruption which comes to our minds is traffic police corruption. This form of corruption may be limited din developed countries but is extremely prevalent in every developing country. Some countries are so notorious for traffic police corruption that whenever a person is stopped for police checking he assumes that he will have to cough up. Other forms of petty corruption include extorting regular payments from market vendors, asking people to pay money for