Noble Cause Corruption

Nobel Cause

Noble Cause Corruption Paper

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Noble Cause Corruption

Noble cause corruption is a response to crime that may not line up with the values and belief of society and could be a blatant violation of the law. There are few if any cases were noble cause corruption would be acceptable but this type of behavior typically originates with the action of law enforcement. In one scenario police officers decided to search the apartment of the drug dealers in the community they are tasked with policing. Every day Officer Jones and Officer Smith observe drug dealers enter the same five apartments in an apartment complex and then go sell drugs on the corners around the neighborhood.

Noble cause corruption is circumventing the law in order to find justice (Valdero, 2011). Despite the fact children play in the neighborhood at a little park with two swings, a slide, and a see saw the drug dealers continue to sell their drugs at the park and one the street corner. Because of the drug industry in the neighborhood there has been a great deal of gang violence. Only last week a little girl was shot while walking to the park with her mother. The perpetrators were never caught and the drug dealers continue to sell their illegal drugs. Officer Jones and Smith have reported the behavior to their superiors but without hard proof there is nothing the police officers can do.

The police officers have been waiting for the drug enforcement officers to come to the neighborhood and conduct stings but this has never happened. After talking with Officer Smith Officer Jones and Smith decided to conduct illegal searches of the five apartments starting with the apartment where there is the heaviest traffic. The two officers decided to enter the apartment and conduct their own drug sting. They also decided to claim they heard a loud noise like a gunshot and observed drugs through the window of the apartment. This will allow them to bypass the need for a search warrant.

After Smith and Jones entered the apartment after demanding entry they discovered drugs in a large box under the bed. The drugs consisted of marijuana and crack in separate little baggies ready to be sold. Officer Smith took the box and placed it on the window seal and opened the lid to reveal the drugs and then called in the drug bust. The two men in the apartment were arrested for drugs and the drugs were confiscated. After the drug bust the undercover drug unit began to conduct stings in the area reducing the number and amount of drugs being sold in the community. The larger police presence reduced the drug problem.

While the illegal actions of Smith and Jones resulted in two major drug dealers being arrested in the neighborhood and convinced the undercover drug unit to come to the neighborhood and conduct drug stings police are public servants tasked with following the law. When police officers break the law there is no true justice. Citizens are afforded due process rights that when violated harm all of society. Despite the fact that the actions of police resulted in dangerous drug offenders being removed from society they have violated the due process of the citizen creating an oppressive environment.

Police are aware that in many cases even if they violate the law they will get away with their bad actions and even if they believe the end justifies the means this is never the case. Justice is the result of a fair and equal justice process where police adhere to the law and obtain actual evidence to prove the guilt of an offender. If the police officers had entered the apartment and there was no drugs the end result would have still been the same but the violation of the citizens due process rights would have been revealed. There is no case were noble cause corruption is right.

References

Valdero, R. (2011). Noble Cause Corruption. Retrieved September 24, 2013 from

http://www.ethicsinpolicing.com/noble-cause-corruption.asp