Corruption -> Honesty- Ethics

As defined by Transparency International, ‘Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain’.

Corruption in criminal justice professions is a common topic in almost every country. Law enforcement and military personnel are often put into positions where they are offered large payoffs to ignore illegal conduct. Throughout history, police officers have bought their positions or promotions, sold protection and ignore violations of the law for money.

In Jamaica one might be very familiar with the term, “Left or Write?” meaning in certain situations such as road traffic violations, the officer is asking the offender is willing to leave him/ her some money to not issue him (offender) with a ticket.

There are a number of reasons why the field of policing seems to be very susceptible to bribery and other forms of corruption the main one being the low pay officers receive in relation to responsibilities and work hours.

SUGGESTION FOR CONTROLLING POLICE CORRUPTION:

1. 1.     The first step should be awareness through education. With the help of education we can reduce corruption. According to a survey conducted by India today the least corrupt state is Kerala, the reason being that in Kerala literacy rate is highest in India. So we can see how education effects education. This suggests that if we are educated, we can understand our rights well as well as duties.
2. 2.      Establishment of firm codes of conduct for police officers, with strong penalties for non-compliance.
3. 3.      Development of better selection processes and training for police at all levels, with selection based on merit.
4. 4.      Development of international agreements whereby members of organized crime and other criminal elements cannot find a safe haven for their corrupt activities. (Peter,2000).

Systematic change in government processes. If the members of the governing body are government officials, there will certainly be less reports of the criminal cases. Police department is not safe from this ailment. We need to change such assumption through police corruption is formed.

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