Exposing Police Corruption on the Job

Corruption versus Official Deviance: Police Misconduct

Official deviance refers to deviating from the laws and bylaws of a particular organization. However, deviance may also refer to as deviance from unspoken codes of behavior. In the 2013 news video “Cop Exposes Police Corruption, Gets Death Threats From Other Cops,” the officer in question (who identifies himself as a whistleblower) says that he had violated the so-called blue wall of silence and was punished as a result. Officially, officers are not supposed to be silent when they witness discrimination and harassment, but according to the officer, he faced threats to his life (including a K9 officer releasing a dog upon him), after he came forward to expose deviance.

Corruption is primarily thought of as enriching one’s self through taking bribes or openly using one’s position to enhance one’s status, power, or finances. The video demonstrates that this is only one way in which corruption may manifest itself, however. Corruption can also manifest itself in officers profiting from racism. The officer complained about misconduct he witnessed as a good citizen and officer, not for self-enrichment. But after facing backlash he eventually waged a lawsuit against Atlantic City Police Department on behalf of himself because other officers had targeted him because of his exposure of their criminal activity, even to the point of a hit being taken out on him by officers. Even for officers who do not support such corruption, the social pressure to go along with peers and superiors, as part of protecting the institution, can be powerful.

An effective training program should profile incidents like these and underline to police the importance of coming forward when they see something wrong. Officers should be able to understand and identify the difference between what is acceptance and unacceptable use of force, and be able to identify the appropriate channels of how to expose corruption. They should understand that exposing corruption is their duty—not to hide it.