Posted: September 9th, 2022

Police Misconduct

Police Misconduct

Police officers in their immediate communities have a social contract that requires them to abide by societal value system and obey the rule of law. However, police corruption remains to be a widespread phenomenon that actively affects their ability to deliver services and a general perception that boosts communication. After the 9/11 attacks, the role of the police within the US drastically changed from that of a civil servant to one of a crime fighter (Pollock, 2014). The change brought with it a greater theme of police aggression and discretion in how they choose to respond to the situation in their immediate environment. In an article titled Jury Weighs Testimony of Ex-detectives in Baltimore Police Corruption Case, a group of Baltimore officers from the Gun Trace Taskforce were identified to use their power to harass ex-convicts or criminally break into the houses of convicted felons and make away with their assets and money.
The article defines the police as a criminal outfit in police uniform, often terrorizing and beating residents in areas of the city where crime was high. Additionally, an ex-detective, who pleaded guilty to the offences admitted to often invoking the code of secrecy and intentionally lying under oath during police investigation for the benefit of the police department. Jemell Rayam and other members of the Gun Trace Taskforce were also indicted for selling confiscated heroin. They were identified to rob and racketeer from families of people in prison multiple times. Incidence of lack of ethics within the police service can be seen in to stem from a subculture within the larger police force which compels for a code of silence among officers. Pollock (2014) identifies that the case of compelled police secrecy was so severe that police officers who wanted to do the right thing, had their security and life increasingly put under threat such as in the famous case of Francesco Vincent Serpico in 1971, who was shot by fellow officers during a drug arrest.
To uphold the ethical behavior, the police departments need to instil a greater sense of responsibilities to their officers on and off duty. In the mentioned case, police in their off-duty activities were prone to criminal activities. There was a lack of conviction to uphold the law due to increase departmental rot and a subculture that promotes code of secrecy, creating an imaginary veil between police and the community. A centralized, top-down crime control attitude that preexists within the larger police force works to enforce this separation with the public. The police force needs to be decentralized and more community based to increase its participation and interaction with the community they serve to maintain their end of the bargain of the social contract.

References
CBS News. (2018, February 8). Jury Weighs Testimony of Ex-detectives in Baltimore Police Corruption Case. CBS News – Breaking News, 24/7 Live Streaming News & Top Stories. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jury-weighs-testimony-of-ex-detectives-in-baltimore-police-corruption-case/
Pollock, Joycelyn M. (2014) Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions In Criminal Justice. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Print.

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