Law Enforcement Police Corruption

Introduction

The main purpose of this research paper is to conduct research on law enforcement police misconduct and corruption. Police misconduct and corruption are abuses of police authority. Sometimes used interchangeably, the terms refer to a wide range of procedural, criminal, and civil violations. Misconduct is the broadest category. Misconduct is "procedural" when it refers to police who violate police department rules and regulations; "criminal" when it refers to police who violate state and federal laws; "unconstitutional" when it refers to police who violate a citizen's Civil Rights; or any combination thereof. Common forms of misconduct are excessive use of physical or Deadly Force, discriminatory arrest, physical or verbal harassment, and selective enforcement of the law (Armao, 34).

Police corruption is the abuse of police authority for personal gain. Corruption may involve profit or another type of material benefit gained illegally as a consequence of the officer's authority. Typical forms of corruption include Bribery, Extortion, receiving or fencing stolen goods, and selling drugs (Dombrink, 201). The term also refers to patterns of misconduct within a given police department or special unit, particularly where offenses are repeated with the acquiescence of superiors or through other ongoing failure to correct them.

Background of the Study

The rate of the police officers involved in corruption is increasing day by day. There are many police officers involved in corruption and abuse (Armao, 34). Police corruption is the abuse conducted by police for their personal gain (Benson, 139). There is a great need of eliminating this abuse of police corruption, and adopt the possible strategies to decrease the rate of police corruption (Dombrink, 201).

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to make an analysis on the law enforcement police corruption. This paper is helpful in understanding the different causes of police corruption, and the necessary strategies to deal with this corruption.

Problem Statement

Frank Lucas was the number 1 drug dealer out of Harlem, NY between 1968 and 1977. Through his friends in the US Army, he would receive shipments of pure heroin from Vietnam using caskets from soldiers killed in the line of duty and shipped back to America. Since the heroin was cheap to collect and mainly pure, Lucas was able to sell it for less than his competition and still make a bigger profit. Since he made a profit of over $1 million per day, he was able to keep the police at bay with $200,000 per week (Bracey, 175).

The case was busted open in 1971, while Frank Lucas made an appearance at the Frazier vs. Ali boxing match at Madison Square Garden while Lucas was wearing a $50,000 fur coat and hat. In 1977, Lucas was finally convicted of over 100 drug-related counts and sentenced to 70 years in prison. Also in 1977, 52 of the 70 agents involved with the drug ring were either in prison or indicted (Benson, 139). In order to see how far police corruption has gone, some research has been conducted throughout the ...