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Police Abuse of Power

In: Social Issues

Submitted By monkey13478
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Police Abuse of Power

Abstract
This paper will focus on the idea of police abuse of power. It discusses the problem with police abusing power and how it leads to the distrust of people today. It will explore why it is an issue and what can be done to prevent it.

An officer started at a job in a new town. After a few months on the job, they noticed a misuse of the authority the police embodied in a couple ways. The ways authority was misused compounded on top of each other making the department enormously corrupt. The officer saw that this was not a good thing, but doesn’t want to speak out because of the subculture and the risk of loosing their job. The new officer wanted to be an ethical leader and demonstrate courage but was at an impasse of uncertainty to keep their job. In today’s society, abuse of police power can be seen. From accepting small bribes to an unnecessary shooting, corruption is everywhere. Abuse of power is defined as the improper use of authority by someone who has that authority because of the office they hold ( Abuse of power West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2). The problem with the abuse of power is it leads to corruption within the justice system. For example, an abuse of power would be when an officer is threatening a suspect with an impractical punishment and is forcing a confession for something they did not do. This corruption doesn’t allow for the right to a fair trial. By abusing the system the officer can doctor reports to say what the officer wants them to so it can put someone away. Officers today are tempted to engage in noble cause corruption where they perceive no accountability for the situation at hand. One area of corruption that should be explored is noble cause corruption. To start one must know what noble because corruption is. Noble cause corruption in policing is defined as corruption

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