User:Bryan Wicker/sandbox

Potential edits to Police Corruption article:
 * Police corruption in the United States
 * Pre-WWI
 * Reconstruction
 * Frontier justice
 * WWI-Vietnam
 * Prohibition and the Depression
 * "McCarthyism"
 * Vietnam War era and the Civil Rights movement
 * War on Crime
 * Kent State
 * Post-Vietnam and the War on Terror
 * War on Drugs
 * Anti-terrorism
 * Effects of police corruption
 * Economically
 * Politically

References:
 * http://www.jaapl.org/content/26/1/57.full.pdf
 * http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/crossing_the_line_the_consequences_of_police_corruption
 * http://www.csdp.org/news/news/corruption.htm Bryan Wicker (talk) 18:05, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Police corruption has many profound effects on society, including political, economic, and sociological. The social aspect is perhaps easiest to define, because even one corrupt officer in a department can generate an overall distrust of the department (the Rotten Apple theory). This negative outlook on policing by citizens helps maintain an "us versus them" mentality among police, which only serves to further the rift between police and the public.

Police corruption, when brought to the public eye, increases pressures on departments by lawmakers to enact change from within. In 2013, the West Valley City, Utah police's narcotics unit was disbanded due to rampant corruption among its officers.[19] These officers were found stealing small items from seized vehicles, taking evidence, and placing tracking devices on potential suspects' vehicles without warrants. This action, like many others, not only increases distrust among the public, but lawmakers begin to feel pressure from the masses to remove officers and revamp entire departments.


 * Political Effects
 * Citizen involvement- Citizens within the jurisdiction look to lawmakers to enact justice against the officers involved. If the instance of corruption happens to fall on an election year, their re-election campaign may be lost.
 * Top-down discipline- Depending on the number of people involved and severity of the acts, state legislators may (be forced to) step in and demand the department be "fixed". This can involve replacing individual officers, mid-level leadership, or asking for a resignation by the department chief. The most often result of corruption is disciplinary actions within the department and, depending on severity and location, unwanted local or national media coverage for a time.


 * Social Effects
 * General distrust of police in the community- While political issues can easily be worked through, the social effect of police corruption is much harder to overcome. Citizens, especially those who or know someone who has been victimized by certain types of corruption, tend to see the police as more of an enemy. Similarly, police view citizens in the same light. Both issues have only been exacerbated by the War on Crime and War on Drugs. The "us versus them" mentality is especially prevalent among inner city minorities, where stereotyping and racial targeting seem to be the norm.
 * "Rotten Apple" theory- This theory suggests that one bad cop ruins the entire department. As in the example with the West Valley PD, a single officer can not only cause leadership to initiate investigations over entire sections or the department as a whole, but that one corrupt officer can bring a generally appreciated department to its knees in terms of public relations. People look at that one bad cop and assume, sometimes correctly (especially in this case, where several other officers were found to be committing similar violations) the entire department is corrupt and committing similar or worse acts.
 * Reduced effectiveness- As officers are being investigated for corruption allegations, they are typically put on a leave of absence. These officers are not allowed to perform any police duty, placing additional stress on the remaining officers. A conviction could result in the permanent removal of the officer from duty, which ensures the gap left by the convicted officer(s) will remain until new officers are trained and take their place.


 * Economic Effects
 * Officer training- Should the corrupt act not be extremely severe, or the department decide discharge of the officer is unnecessary, those involved in corrupt acts may be charged to undergo remedial training. This could be inside or outside the department, and becomes another red mark on the already strapped budget of most departments. The cost of this remedial training pales in comparison to the cost of having to train new officers to replace those who are relieved of their duties, since these new hires will need to undergo initial academy training as well as whatever additional training the officer would require as they advanced in their career.
 * Investigations- Departments spend thousands upon thousands in investigative and litigation costs due to corruption. These investigators are either part of their own department or taken from other squads (county sheriff investigating a city department, for example), or can be private entities. The department must also invest in retaining attorneys for both themselves and the officers involved.