Police corruption is a kind of police misconduct where law enforcement officers break their social contract and abuse their power for either individual or department gain. There are many forms of corruption. Sometimes, police corruption can involve only one officer, or it can involve a troop of officers in a coordinated effort.
The first explanation for police corruption would be the misuse of authority. Usually in this case, officers engage in minor or low level corruption. In my opinion, this is when police officers are paid off by essentially non-criminal elements who fail to comply with tough or strict statutes or city laws. An example of this would be individuals who repeatedly violate traffic laws in which an officer may take a bribe
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This is also the case where police officers actively engage in crimes, including burglary and drug dealing. An example of this would be prostitutes, drug addicts and dealers, and burglars or robbers bribing police officers or paying them in order to not go to jail. In this instance, police officers have been involved in activities such as extortion of money and/or drugs from drug violators in order to avoid arrest; they have accepted bribes; they have sold drugs. They have known of drug violations and have failed to take necessary enforcement action. They have entered into personal associations with drug criminals and in some cases have used drugs. In my opinion, bribery is one of the most common acts of corruption.
The third explanation for police corruption is when the corruption is clear, explicit and obvious. Basically, this is when an officer or department steals from custody or an arrest. An example of this would be an officer taking drugs for one’s own personal use in a drug bust or arrest, and taking personal and private objects from the scene of a crime. A theft can also occur within a department. An officer can steal property from the department’s evidence room or property room for personal