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Response.docxAmanda Mason
Chapter 1
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Police corruption is the misuse of authority. Types of include, bringing drugs into prisons, accepting bribes, and stealing. I personally don’t believe that corruption is on a rise. Corruption can happen in any type of organization, but it isn’t every individual that engages in corrupted tactics. John Walsh says, “The media only talk about the negative stuff, so we need to start talking about the positive stuff,” (Justice Network, 2015).
When we talk about democracy, it means, “they are concerned about the rights and freedoms to be given to individuals and about the limits to be placed on the governments use of police power,” (Novak, Cordner, Smith, and Roberg, 2020). Here in the United States, we have the rule of law. According to Novak, rule of law is, “assume that individuals in power will be inclined to abuse their power unless they are controlled by the constitution,” (2020). We also have civil, criminal, substantive, and procedural laws to govern. The reason that democracy can be hard on police is because of all the laws, policies, and procedure to go through. The police must play a dual role in a free society as they protect the rights of the citizens, but also have the power to take their freedom away. Although democracy provides a system that serves the people, the police must give out “services” that the people don’t want. While democracy is also considered to be “equal,” the police obtain more power that the rest of the citizens. All these things contribute to why it has been said that “democracy is always hard on the police.” One example of this can be seen in the case of Walter Scott. A North Charleston police officer, Michael Slager, had pulled over Scott at a routine traffic stop due to an alleged “broken taillight.” The two then had an altercation and Scott tried to flee the scene, Slager then pulled out his gun and shot Scott multiple times. After shooting Scott, Slager placed his taser next to Scott’s deceased body to insure there was evidence that could show he was in the right for what had occurred.
Officer Dutta made some extremely good points because he had faced them firsthand. It is hard for people in society to understand because we don’t live their everyday lives. Such as, “police officers have powers that, if abused, can result in serious harm to people’s lives and liberties,” (Dutta, 1999 p. 43). This is because they have procedures to follow and if one thing goes south, so can everything else. Another interesting point is, “I believe that painting all the officers with the same brush on actions of one or several officers is grossly unfair,” (Dutta, 1999 p. 42). The reason I agree with this statement is because even though all officers have the same rules and regulations to follow doesn’t mean that they each hold the same moral values.
After reading the articles and watching the videos, I still have the same view on police officers. They should be respected because this is their livelihood. They are putting their lives in danger to keep our country a safer place and most people don’t look at the bigger picture of why they should be respected. Their jobs are extremely hard, and they work long hours trying to ensure that they catch each individual that has put someone in harm’s way.
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Jessica Nicaragua
Police Corruption
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According to Novak et al. (2020), police corruption is defined as “any forbidden act that involves misuse of an officer’s position for gain”. Therefore, police corruption may be rampant in many police departments but rather it depends on the officers themselves and if the situation goes unseen or unheard of. Klockars et al. (2000) describes the “code of silence” amongst police officers in which officers are reluctant to inform their supervisors of the corruptive behaviors that their fellow officers are engaging in (p.1). In addition, the reluctance goes both ways whereas if one officer does not report the corruptive behavior, the others will not report as well; in a way of protecting the department itself and having each other’s back. Therefore, there are difficulties in determining whether police corruption is rampant in many police departments if there is a “code of silence” among these police departments. When police corruptness is discovered, there is a perception that all police departments are alike and the term is generalized as a whole.
The phrase “democracy is always hard on police” may stem as an exemplary example as to why police officers engage in corruptive behaviors. Novak et al. (2020) explains the representations of both democracy and the police; “Democracy represents consensus, freedom, participation, and equality; the police represent regulation, restriction, and the imposition of government authority on an individual” (p.5). Therefore, democracy represents the people and the police represent the enforcers and protectors of society. Citizens of the United States are granted rights but also are required to abide by the rules and laws imposed in the constitution. When rules and laws are broken, police officers are required to punish those individuals such as writing citations or giving tickets to traffic violators. As a result, individuals may not agree with the outcome and may lash out or create a perception that all police officers are the same but in fact; officers are doing their jobs and enforcing the law. In addition, the media creates a perception that all police officers are hostile by creating content every time a police officer is seen killing an individual or using excessive force instead of also creating content that sheds light onto the exemplary work that officers do to protect our society.
In regards to Officer Dutta, there is in fact a generalization that all officers are the same. Whether there is news media of an officer being corrupt, the public will percept that all officers are the same. When in reality, just because there is one “bad apple” in the department, it does not necessarily mean that all officers are corrupted. The media has a huge way of impacting the way the public percepts specific topics by the way they create their content. Society creates “community expectations” and “individual expectations” where an officer should be behaving a specific way or doing their jobs a specific way as well. Novak et al. (2020) explains that, individuals have their own perceptions of police and their own priorities and preferences (p.19). For example, if one individual prioritizes finding the solution of gang activity in the neighborhood and another prioritizes a string over burglaries in the neighborhood, if police officers prioritize one from the other first, there will be complains from individuals that officers are not doing their jobs. Therefore, the standards are set extremely high for officers because they are seen in a bad light.
After watching all the videos and reading Officer Dutta’s article, my opinion of police officers remains the same. Police officers have to withstand a tremendous backlash of the perception that all police officers are the same; officers are generalized and that is simply unfair. Law enforcement personnel’s have an abundance of responsibilities when protecting society and withstand various courses and training. All in all, officers should be seen as human beings as well. Police officers need to take caution every time they are on the job because people can be unpredictable. As John Walsh explains it, police officers go into work everyday not knowing if they are going to make it back home to their families (Justice Network, 2015).
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Alejandro Hernandez
DB 1
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I do not believe that police corruption is rampant in many police departments. I do believe that it is a very real phenomenon that does exist in many departments buy some officers, but I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a ramp at issue. In place of police corruption, I believe that there is probably a lot of discrimination that some police officers might have against individuals. I believe that to be more rampant than any corruption although it could be argued that discrimination amongst police officers can be a form of corruption. The bureau of justice statistics revealed that African Americans in this country are 3.5 times more likely than whites to be killed when the victim was not attacking or unarmed. Statistics also showed that police officers kill an African American about every 40 hours in the United States (Police abuse statistics, n.d.). I think the statistics go to show that there probably exists more discrimination in police departments across the country against people of color more so than a police officer stealing drugs, or money for himself. It might be perceived that the corruption has to do with stealing, but I believe that it is more of a racial profiling and discrimination issue within police departments. The reason why democracy might be hard on the police is because democracy must do largely with the various rights and freedoms that are granted to the individuals that make up the society of a democratic nation, and sometimes it may seem that police officers get in the way of those rights and freedoms that are granted to the citizens of a democratic nation. An example of this may be how the police may find somebody walking down the street to be suspicious and will attempt to stop that person and search them for anything that might be illegal but the individual that is being stopped. Maye site that he has the fourth amendment right that protects him against unlawful search and seizure and in this way, democracy is tough on the police. I do not believe this to be a bad thing as there exist many countries where police do not have these problems, and when this happens, the police start to abuse the power that they are granted, and this leads to a country that is ran by intimidation and fear. I agree with officer Dutta when he says that police need to be punished swiftly, when they are discovered to be corrupt, and that police officers need to be held to higher moral standards than the public (Dutta, 1999). Police officers are granted a lot of power over other people, and they must not misuse this power that they are granted. Police officers must not allow themselves to be corrupt because how can, we expect to be a functioning society if the individuals who are supposed to stop corruption and bad things from happening are bad people themselves? The opinion that I have of police officers after watching all the videos was that they are hard-working individuals that have some bad apples within them but overall, they are human beings, just like us trying to do the right thing and putting their lives on the line. I think that they deserve more praise than they are given, and they also deserve to be paid more than they are paid.
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Gabriela Padron
Chapter 1: Discussion
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As quoted by Sunil Dutta (1999), journalists portray all officers the same. They see the bad actions of a few, and quickly depict all others the same. The media today has a big impact on criminal justice policy development and ideologies. Since they have their own personal narratives and wish to create their own constructions of crime and justice, their priority does not lie with facts but the reality they wish to construct or re-enforce. However, in many ways the media has brought awareness to many social issues, and due to that raised awareness, the people have been able to influence many governmental policies. The media today is also liable for promoting and exaggerating issues like that police corruption is rampant in many police departments.
Although we see the media portray police corruption as rampant, this is not the case. It is a perception that many have today due to constant negative portrayal of police departments and officer. A study conducted by Kane and White (2009), focused on NYPD and the personal lives and careers of retired officers. They compared and contrasted officers who served honorably and those who were terminated, to not only understand what leads officers to corruption, but also measure its prevalence within the department (Kane & White, 2009). The study found that misconduct within the department was less than 2% of the 78,000 officers that were looked at. Just by looking at one department, if police corruption was rampant, one of the biggest departments in the country would have a much higher percentage of misconduct and misuse of authority. Police corruption exists, it is not a myth, but it is not as rampant as described by the media and perceived by many today.
As mentioned by Novak et al., (2019), our democratic form of government is concerned with the rights and freedoms granted to individuals. The constitution not only describes our rights and freedoms, but also ensures they aren’t violated by any form of government, and that includes the police (Novak et al., 2019). Checks and balances exist to ensure that the government and their agencies does not surpass the limitations set by the constitution. It prevents them from abusing their power and violating our rights (Novak et al., 2019). Furthermore, as discussed by (Novak et al., 2019), the amendments within the constitution state what the police are allowed to do, and what constitutes a violation of rights. Since the United States, is a democratic form of government and focuses on the protection of individual rights, it might conflict with the police as their power is limited and regulated which can in turn make their job harder. For example, a police officer might be sure that an individual is hiding drugs in their house, but without a warrant he is not allowed to enter the home as it is unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court has made exceptions to this rule like items in plain view or consent, but without these exceptions it is considered a violation by the police.
One of the main points that Officer Dutta made which I agree with are unfair generalizations (Dutta, 1999). Any person who is depicted or described based on the bad actions of others is suffering an injustice. No person should be judged and persecuted due to the actions of another. Not only is this discriminatory but also unfair to an individual whose life work is proof of the contrary. I also agree that officers must set a higher moral and ethical standard, including in their personal lives (Dutta, 1999). According to Punch (2010), without ethical conduct, police lose legitimacy and without it, they are not properly equipped to perform their duties. Without high morals and ethics, police are much more likely to fall into corruption as small deviant acts can turn into larger more serious offenses (Punch, 2010).
My opinion on police officers did not change after watching the videos; on the contrary, it mostly reenforced my current opinion. I know several retired police detectives, and current law enforcement officers, and they are all honest, and honorable individuals. As depicted in the videos (MagellanTV, 2015; General Discharge, 2021; Justice Network, 2015), officers do a job not many would be able to withstand, nor dutifully perform. It was also very interesting to learn how understaffed the LAPD Swat is, but I am not surprised as it is a very difficult job (General Discharge, 2021). Although there are bad people in all professions, I don’t believe that most police officers are corrupt or engage in misconduct. On the contrary, most try to carry out their duties by protecting and serving the people as best as possible.
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