Police Ethics-Chapter 11, Types of Police Misconduct

Question 1

“All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”

Answer 1

Lord Acton, 1834-1902

Question 2

Police deviance

Answer 2

when people deviate, they break norms of conduct that are prescribed for them.

Question 3

Norms

Answer 3

cultural values, moral tenets, social customs, codified laws.

Question 4

Cops as Legal Actors- Multiple Standards of Conduct

Answer 4

1. Police are legal actors
2. Police are political actors
3. Police are administrative actors

Question 5

in responding to the desires of their communities, the police must be ___

Answer 5

political actors…streetcorner politicians

Question 6

Who labeled “streetcorner politicians”

Answer 6

William K Muir

Question 7

Cops as Administrative Actors

Answer 7

police must live by the rules of conduct set down by police professionals in police dept General Order Manuals. This set makes up the “nuts and bolts” of police work

Question 8

Cops as legal actors

Answer 8

police must know the codified law, charge appropriately, investigate effectively and write reports.

Question 9

When dealing with suspects and citizens the police must also know ___or ___

Answer 9

procedural or case law

Question 10

police must answer to three separate sets of standards.

Answer 10

observe the law
respond to community
follow professional regulations

Question 11

Two questions must be asked of police misconduct for us to fit such misbehavior into its proper place in its typology
Once these two questions are answered, misconduct can be classified

Answer 11

1. was the misconduct done in the name of personal gain.

2. did the misconduct involve the use of the police position of authority

Question 12

corruption of authority

Answer 12

using their legal authority to obtain personal rewards. ex: payoffs to protect criminal enterprises

Question 13

Shakedown

Answer 13

police demanding money from people in exchange for “letting them off easy”

Question 14

Graft

Answer 14

accepted on an individual basis, from a motorist in exchange for not giving a ticket

Question 15

Police Crime or professional crime

Answer 15

committing crimes while on duty. burlarizing busineses or residences. theft. This misconduct is to obtain personal gain, but they are not tradin goff their position of authority to do so

Question 16

Grass eating- two types

Answer 16

1st. accepting cash in exchange for not writing a moving violation, obtaining police discounts, eating free food, drinking free coffee.
2nd- involves the acceptance by some officers of the larger-scale, organized misconduct of others (meat-eating). grass eating invovles looking the other way and not reporting/taking action with regard to the personal gain-related misconduct of others.

Question 17

Meat Eating

Answer 17

involves proactive, systematic, organized payoffs. ex: narcotic officer accepting money on regular basis in exchange for not arresting certain drug dealers, Vice officers not arrested pimps, beat officers who shakedown businesses and demand protection money from them.

Question 18

slippery slope

Answer 18

when officers begin to deviate, they do so in small, incremental ways. Person strays from the norms and rules of conduct, he begins to slide down a slope that leads to greater forms of deviance.

Question 19

Slippery slope idea suggests that grass eating supports meat eating in two ways.

Answer 19

1. first accepting small gifts such as free coffee or meals, eventually will begin to normalize accepting more significant gifts.
2. grass eating involve looking the other way when meat eating occurs.

Question 20

Involves police misusing their position of authority but not for personal gain.

Answer 20

Noble cause corruption

Question 21

transgressions against departmental regulations that are considered to be police misconduct. While these are sometimes serious volations, they are neither criminal nor corrupt in their nature. they are merely the product of ___

Answer 21

ineptitude–sleeping on duty, showing up late, writing poor reports, failing to respond to calls, ignoring orders.

Question 22

Being a ____ ___ involves having the intelligence, education, motivation and skill to get the job done and thus avoid ineptitude

Answer 22

competent police officer

Question 23

if an officer lacks any or all these traits of a competent police officer, he should be

Answer 23

retrained, reeducated, or dismissed

Question 24

Most techniques used for dealing with ineptitude involve proative, ___ strategies that bring change without impacting negatively upon an officers career

Answer 24

no-fault

Question 25

Ineptitude often occurs almost inadvertently, usually without ____

Answer 25

malice

Question 26

Personal misconduct is important and it has great significance in two ways

Answer 26

1. it may be of general relevance to the image of a police dept.
2. the way the officer behaves off duty is directly controlled by the kind of person that officer is.

Question 27

___behavior is just as critical as on duty behavior as an indicator of police ethicss

Answer 27

off-duty

Question 28

Presidential Misconduct

Answer 28

1. Corruption of Authority- George H W Bush issued a pardon to everyone involved in Iran/Contra scandal. One of the pardoned indiv was going to argue in court that he was ordered to commit such crime. Bush saved his own skin
2. Noble Cause Corruption- Pres Reagan allowed Oliver North to deliver arms to Contras using drug dealers to accomplish a criminal task.
3. Criminal Behavior- Watergate scandal.
4. Ineptitude- Pres Carter inability to solve Iran Hostage crisis
5. Personal Misconduct- Clinton was impeached for getting a blow job in White House.

Question 29

corruption of authority

Answer 29

police misconduct involving personal gain on part of errant officers and misuse of an officers power

Question 30

general orders manuals

Answer 30

internal regulations constructed by all police depts

Question 31

graft

Answer 31

acquisition of money, goods or services thru dishonesty and involving taking advantage of one s official position

Question 32

grass eating

Answer 32

police misconduct that involves the acceptance of non-systematic graft or covering up of more serious corruption

Question 33

ineptitude

Answer 33

incompetence, sloth, lack of training

Question 34

meat eating

Answer 34

seriouis form of police corruption involving ongoing payoffs or graft

Question 35

personal misconduct

Answer 35

deviance that is off duty. may or may not become the subject of internal, dept investigation

Question 36

police crime

Answer 36

police misconduct involving personal gain, but not related to the official authority of the police

Question 37

police deviance

Answer 37

police behavior that goes against either legal or professional standards of conduct or against input obtained from the community under COP

Question 38

shakedowns

Answer 38

proactively obtaining money from citizens in exhcange for avoiding the performance of their official charge

Question 39

slippery slope

Answer 39

idea that misconduct can begin with small types of misbehavior and then expand and change into major corruption

Question 40

streetcorner politicians

Answer 40

Muir’s label for officers, refers to their exercise of power over citizens.