What is police corruption? Wikipedia
say “Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to
obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a
police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing,
an investigation or arrest. One common
form of police corruption is soliciting or accepting bribes in exchange for not
reporting organized drug or prostitution rings or other illegal activities.
Another example is police officers flouting the police code of conduct in order
to secure convictions of suspects — for example, through the use of falsified
evidence. More rarely, police officers may deliberately and systematically
participate in organized crime themselves.”
Police corruption is often seen as a distant problem for "big city
cops" or "other departments."
In this clip you see an off duty
Miami police officer speeding to an off duty job because he claims he is
running late. While on the highway he
decides that he is just going to speed.
The officer passes a state police car going around 120mph and continues
to drive at excessive speeds while the state police car attempts to chase him
down with her lights flashing and her sirens running. The lady officer is able to get up behind him
but the off duty officer still proceeds to keep speeding away from her. The two
police cars drive for miles before the off duty police officer decides to pull
over and explain to the state police officer while he is driving so fast. The lady police officer then pulls out her
weapon and becomes physical with the other officer telling him to put his hands
behind his back while the Miami officer tries to explain his story to why he is
driving in such a manor.
This is just another example of how
police officers try to break that law. In class we talked about if you were a
police officer at your friend’s house and you went to find a coaster to put
your drink on but ended up opening up a container that you thought might have
coasters but you end up finding marijuana instead. Now you have to decide if you should just
close the box and act as if you never saw what you saw or to place your new
friend under arrest for possession of a control substance. I think that many officers in today’s society
are faced with decisions like this and sometimes are lost on what they should
do. Do I arrest my new friend or do I just
let it slide, if you let it slide. Let’s
just say, another police officer pulls over that person and finds them with Mary
Jane. That new friend tells that officer
that he knows you and proceeds to tell him that you saw him with it and never
did anything. Now you could get in
trouble with your department maybe with a suspension or be let go because you
did not arrest your friend for the drug.
I think that if you’re the Miami
police officer he should just have pulled over right away instead of taking
this long chase with a state police officer at such high rates of speed. I believe their might have been a different
outcome if he would of just stopped got out and told the other officer his
story to why he is speeding. Do you
think that the Miami police officer should have just kept going for as long as
he did or stopped? This is when police
ethics comes into play does the state police officer just let the person in the
speeding police car keep going and not bother following him to find out if the
speeding police car truly does have a police officer inside? What do you think would have happened to the
lady state trooper if she did not chase after the other officer and that
speeding car was a stolen car? I think
that she did the right thing to radio in a speeding police unit and to proceed
chasing. If she didn’t do that and the
car killed someone and she could be suspended because she seen the car passes
her at a high rate of speed while the interstate was full of other people
driving. This off duty officer even
though he was late and thought he would just speed to get to his other job he
was not thinking about how he was putting other people’s lives in danger. I do not know exactly what ended up happening
to him but I think that he definitely should have been suspended or even let go
by the Miami Police Department. If
everyone else in society is not allowed to speed even if they are late to their
job or meeting then how does it make it right for a police officer to break
them?
I agree with almost everything you said. I do believe though that when you are an off duty police officer in a social environment you should not act like one. Leave the police mentality to when you are working. For the scenario you suggested where the officer found marijuana in his new friends home, I believe he has to just leave it. The police officer who arrested the Miami officer was in the right. the Miami officer should have stopped immediately and should not break the law to the extent he did. He should not expect that because he is an officer he does not have to follow the law. Police corruption is definitely an issue and an issue that is very hard to prove. The best we can do is be the very best people and officers we can be.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Personally, I feel that being a police officer is a job that you follows you home at the end of the day, whether one wants it to or not. With that being said, I think officers should act accordingly throughout their daily routines. Was the Miami Police Officer acting out of conduct? I think the answer is obvious. Does an officer on duty speed at 120mph unless there is an emergency and have their lights on? No. It was a blatant demonstration of abusive power and disrespect for the people that officer serves. I applaud the state trooper for acting the way she did and not going easy on the Miami officer. For the marijuana example, I feel that the officer should make the bust. I don't think it is right for a person to be let off just because of personal relationships, regardless of how hard it may be for the officer. I say this now, however I am curious to see if my thoughts change if/when I do become a police officer.
ReplyDeleteI heard of this specific scenario when the story first broke. I couldn't believe how reckless the Miami Officer behaved. He endagered the lives of many motorist due to his own selfish agenda. He was running late to his second job. It is not uncommon for a regular citizen to run late for work. However, when we are pulled over for speeding to work that excuse hardly is ever acceptable. This officer clearly showed his above the law attitude by blatantly ignoring his fellow comrades signals to pull over. He did not even slow down. This was demonstrative of abusing power.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog because it ties into what we are talking about a lot in class. We need to think ethically and know what the correct thing is to due. With the new emphasis in education on ethics hopefully this will cause the amount of corruption to stop or drop at a good amount. Many cops face these tough types of situations all the time and only have very little time to deal with it. This makes it very hard to do the right thing all the time. What would really help is if these police officers did not think of themselves as above the law, and thought more about how they could make a difference and do better for the public. However, I disagree and think that an off duty police officer can still act as one in certain situations that call for his duty
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post in the fact that it deals with much of what we are talking about in class right now. First off, the officer should know the limits of his job. And when he is off duty, he is just that, off duty. He is abusing his powers driving at speeds upwards of 120 mph clearly ignoring the laws that he was hired to enforce, but as a citizen to follow himself. Like stated earlier it would be an abuse of power to be speeding even if he was on the job unless he was in pursuit. As far as the on duty officer in this situation I would have reacted the same. Following Kant's theory of deontology, this officer should have been arrested because not only was his driving reckless, but was a felony and he endangered the lives of the other motorists on the road. And if your going to arrest a citizen for driving 120 mph which is the right thing to do, following police duty, then you better arrest an off duty officer for driving that same speed. Just because they are an off duty officer doesn't mean they can break the law, plain and simple. In regards to the other officer getting chase I would have responded similarly. I would have gave chase at a safe distance, but also not endanger any motorist more than they already have been by the off duty officer speeding and swerving down the road at 120 mph. You can also call in for backup, because as they say, "you can't outrun a radio."
ReplyDeleteMany people feel that they are above the law especially people in positions of power. As soon as he saw flashing lights he should have pulled over. As soon as he identified himself he might have gotten a more lenient outcome from the arresting officer. Because he is speeding at such a high rate the officer is going to have her defenses up. She has no way to know that he is an off duty officer. As a police officer they are supposed to uphold the law at all times just like regular citizens. Every person that speeds or does a traffic violation is not going to get a ticket or be arrested because of discretion involved. The arresting officer was completely right in this situation.
ReplyDelete