Why do police officers, who are meant to abide by the rules, Essay

Why do police officers, who are meant to abide by the rules, [sometimes] bend and break them - Essay Example It is a profession which was believed previously to not possess any sort of malice but it has been found that some unethical behaviour does persist in the police force too. This has been witnessed in the police force of United Kingdom as a small number of officers have been found to commit these unethical behaviours. The police officers in the United Kingdom have been under severe criticism for scandals which took place in 1820s and 1960s. It has been found at many instances that the police force in United Kingdom has been involved in bribery, tampering of evidence, and beating up of subjects. For such a behaviour to be avoided policies such as Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 have been enacted in the United Kingdom. The problem with the police department is not limited to the developed country of United Kingdom but it also spreads to the United States. It has been found that unethical behaviour also persists in the police force of United States (Mollen 1994). â€Å"Most police departments have members who commit corrupt acts from time to time. Only some police departments, however, become corrupt police departments.† (Sherman, 1978 pg. 32) Police officers at times break the rules for a gain which might not be personal but would rather be a group gain. Police officers break rules at instances where they think that they can benefit from the whole situation. A reward for breaking rules can also be cited by these police officers as they might show a legitimate reason to commit that offence. Some of the major problems which are causing the police officers to break the rules in accordance to their will are related to their personal gains and power. Discretion being the foremost factor in determining as to if the police officer would turn out to be corrupt or not. This discretion allows the police officers to be the sole authority at particular instances where they can bend and break the laws in the way that they like. These are probably done for the bett er future of the police officers and the resources that they might be provided after being successful in those instances. Discretion of the police officers also gives rise to the question as to what are the goals of policing actually ? To answer this one can say that the police officer defines his or her goals according to a prevalent belief in the policing system. It is the seniors of the police officers who leave an impact on the juniors as to how they should handle their authority at some instances. If this authority is handled incorrectly then it leads to corruption within the department whereas if it is handled correctly then corruption would not prevail (Barker & Carter 1986, Pg. 30-45 ; Kleiney 1996 Pg. 81-96 ). Another reason for corruption in the police department is the less visibility of the actions of the police officers. Goldstein states that ‘under the best of circumstances, police agencies have several peculiar characteristics that make them especially difficult to administer. Police officers are spread out in the field, not subject to direct supervision’ (Goldstein 1990:6). As the police department is not watched upon by specific authorities many of the police officers can be involved in the practices of corruption. A possible solution to the problem of less visibility is transparency as put forward by many agencies. Police corruption can be stopped if the officers have to be transparent in their dealing and they are being looked upon by authoritative figures. Similarly these police officers are not exposed to the public too as they only have to deal with specific individuals at specific instances. If public has a transparency to the objectives of policing then it is possible that the rates of corruption would be decreased in