Police Corruption - 1032 Words

In Edwin J. Deltarres book Character and Cops he explores three hypotheses for police corruption in the United States. Some are somewhat historical, but they are still relevant to the problem of corruption today. The first hypothesis is called the society at-large theory by former Chicago Police Superintendent O. W. Wilson. Wilson was superintendent of the Chicago Police Department during the early nineteen sixties. The second hypothesis is called the structural theory. The third is called the rotten apple theory. I will provide a brief analysis of the three hypotheses in this essay and examine which one(s) is valid today. The society at-large hypothesis theory, asserts that the police, in this case the nineteen†¦show more content†¦Once they were hired, they were trained by inexperienced officers who often had less than a year on the force themselves. Once they were so called trained and on the street the new officers were not adequately supervised. These conditions lead t o a young, unqualified, under supervised force. Another factor in the failed force expansion was a disinterested senior police force that operated nearly independent to the new recruits. Many of the new officers ended up involved in criminal actions. Shortly after the department was double in size, 75 percent of criminal complaints levied against department officers originated from the new group of officers. Ten of the substandard group were charge and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder or drug trafficking charges. Two more were convicted of racketeering, cocaine possession or drug trafficking charges. To sum up, the Rotten-Apple theory can be attributed to poor recruiting, poor training combined with poor supervision which led to young corrupt force. While the Rotten-Apple theory can explain corruption in one department I dont believe it is a universal fit for police corruption in general. The Society At-Large theory may have been more relevant to prior generations of of ficers who may have been innocently conditioned to the freebies that they partook in, but in the modern era police officers are well versed and trained inShow MoreRelatedThe Corruption Of Police Corruption1484 Words   |  6 Pagesconcerning police officers, police corruption has become a major topic. Police officers seem to be making more questionable and unethical decisions according to the media. With these questionable actions, the idea that police officers are corrupt has been a steadily growing opinion. 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