NCJ Number
117174
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1988) Pages: 201-232
Date Published
1988
Length
32 pages
Annotation
For police, situations involving vice and its control have presented opportunities for corruption and posed challenges for police administrators who hope to limit their officers' misconduct without alienating their loyalty.
Abstract
Cases of police corruption in Philadelphia, New York City, Miami, Boston, and San Francisco have developed against a backdrop of increased legalization of gambling, increased drug use and debate over decriminalization, and a prostitutes' rights movement. The ambivalence of the American public toward vice control has sent contradictory messages to police and created moral, legal, and organizational dilemmas for departments attempting to control police misconduct and corruption. In each of the cities experiencing serious police corruption, the approaches to investigation, prosecution, and intervention varied. Changing patterns of vice, coupled with changes in approaches to policing, particularly team and community policing, have altered the parameters of police corruption control and generated debate over the most appropriate mechanisms to prevent, discover, or punish misconduct. Debate exists over the issues of vice decriminalization, generalist versus specialist vice control, decentralized versus centralized vice patrol responsibility, and autonomy versus supervision. Some have recommended internal accountability and control mechanisms, while others advocate external review. In the face of changing patterns of vice and policing, corruption control will require a range of strategies aimed at instilling professionalization, high morale, and commitment to innovation in police organizations. 302 footnotes.