Prision Corruption

Prison corruption is a nationwide problem that has been going on for many years. Not only is corruption a problem on our own U.S. soil, but also police practices of corruption go as far east as Europe and Asia. Correctional Officers receive a lot of scrutiny over this issue, but for good reason.

A person who is corrupted lacks integrity or honesty; it is someone who uses a position of trust for dishonesty. In this case a position of trust is a Officer. Police corruption is when an officer misuses his/her authority to fulfill there needs and wants. There are many different forms of corruption; gratuity, involving free meals and discounts; bribery, involving the exchange of money or other goods between an officer and a suspect; theft and burglary, involving officers stealing property, money, and/or drugs. As a society, we hold law enforcement to a higher standard. We don’t expect criminal behavior from people who swore to protect and serve. Corruption and brutality is not new among the police agencies across the U.S. Each city has there own history, but New York City has the most interesting history.

There are a number of reasons why this topic has come under recent inspection. Corruption scandals have toppled prisons in every state of the USA.

Law Enforcement has been around since the beginning of man. The Code of Hammurabi, a book of 282 different codes, which specifically spelled out punishments for crimes, was followed back as early as 1700 B.C. (Geo Quest, Current Events, 00113492, 10/28/2005, Vol. 105, Issue 8) In the Bible's story of Adam and Eve, God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden as a punishment for breaking the rules. (The Holy Bible: Genesis Ch.3) These types of historical records display the fact that law enforcers have always existed. Just as law enforcers have always existed, so have ethical issues surrounding the authority exercised by these individuals. Police corruption is a problem that has always existed.

There are several factors that can explain the reason for police corruption. First, law enforcement officers work in a somewhat unsupervised work environment. Although police officers do have supervisors, when they are in the field, they are left somewhat unmonitored....

The purpose of this paper is to give a detailed, comprehensive analysis of the life and role of the correctional officer. When society, as a whole, is in discussion of the career of a correctional officer, most of the images that spring to mind are that these employees of the correctional