Deck 13: Police Corruption

Question 1

Successful control of corruption begins with the

A)city government structure.
B)police community tolerance.
C)attitude of the chief administrator.
D)level of narcotics enforcement.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The term "meat eater," as defined by Knapp Corruption Commission refers to

A)officers who passively accept what is offered to them.
B)officers who aggressively demand favors.
C)investigative divisions who only investigate narcotics corruption cases.
D)administrators who do not take a serious approach to police corruption.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

When several corrupt officers cooperate with one another, this is an example of a

A)deep pocket.
B)deep corruption pocket.
C)rotten pocket.
D)persistent ethic problem.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In the 1990s, the Mollen Commission argued that a new form of corruption had emerged which was a convergence of

A)graft and corruption.
B)corruption and brutality.
C)gratuity and corruption.
D)internal and external corruption.

Question 5

A situation where only a few officers are independently engaged in corrupt acts is known as the

A)rotten pocket disorder.
B)partial deviance factor.
C)conduct unbecoming issue.
D)rotten apple theory.

Question 6

The most popular explanation of police corruption is the so-called "rotten apple" theory.This is appealing to some because it

A)emphasizes the failings of individuals, provides convenient scapegoats, and avoids dealing with difficult issues.
B)reduces the liability to the organization, placing it squarely on one officer or on a group of officers committing the deviant acts.
C)is close to criminal law, which can lead to prosecution and termination of the officers, successfully removing them from the organization.
D)preserves the positive image of the organization as a whole, enabling the department to justify community-policing grants in the next budget year.

Question 7

The definition of a "grass eater" officer according to the Knapp Commission is

A)an officer who worked with a corrupt officer but did not turn them in.
B)an officer who assisted a corrupt officer but did not share in the profits.
C)an officer who passively accepted what is offered in terms of favors.
D)an officer who aggressively demands favors.

Question 8

The two key elements of police corruption are

A)deviance and force.
B)money and authority.
C)authority and force.
D)misuse of authority and personal gain.

Question 9

The most serious form of corruption exists

A)when only a few officers are independently engaged in corrupt but serious acts.
B)when it reaches the point where only federal investigations can uncover its full breadth and depth.
C)involves the management of the department but the rank-and-file remain unaware of it.
D)when it becomes organized and penetrates the higher levels of the department.

Question 10

The Knapp Corruption Commission coined the term "grass eater" as defined by

A)officers who passively accept what is offered to them.
B)officers who aggressively demand favors.
C)investigative divisions who only investigate narcotics corruption cases.
D)administrators who do not take a serious approach to police corruption.

Question 11

The police "pad" is defined as

A)the place where the officer could sleep on duty.
B)the process involving regular payoffs to the officers to protect an ongoing illegal activity.
C)the record of which bar owners were to be protected and which were to be forced out of business until monies were paid to the police.
D)the pad of paper held by the lieutenant at the desk where officers would pick up monies for extra protection from merchants.

Question 12

The Knapp Commission concluded that, in many ways, the rotten-apple police-corruption doctrine had actually

A)attracted many morally inferior people to policing.
B)been an obstacle to meaningful reform meant to root out corruption.
C)led to the advent of police reform throughout the nation.
D)improved the hiring standards for police personnel.

Question 13

Officers generally work alone with no direct supervision and the risk of being caught is often very low.This is known as

A)under the radar work.
B)beneath big brother police work.
C)low visibility work.
D)high temptation design.

Question 14

__________________ is a term meaning criminal and noncriminal behavior committed during the course of normal work activities or committed under the guise of the police officer's authority.

A)Pervasive corruption.
B)Occupational deviance.
C)Cultural wrong.
D)Ethic deviance.

Question 15

The least serious form of corruption exists when

A)it involves only a few police officers acting on their own.
B)only the police chief is engaged in corrupt acts.
C)several corrupt officers cooperate with one another.
D)three to five officers work semi-independently, protecting each other.

Question 16

A "rotten pocket" exists when

A)police officers from different departments are working together to commit corruption.
B)only a few officers are independently engaged in corrupt acts.
C)several corrupt officers cooperate with one another within one department.
D)three to five officers work semi-independently, protecting each other.

Question 17

The most common form of police corruption involves

A)force issues.
B)bribery.
C)gratuities.
D)narcotics.

Question 18

The level of corruption is heavily influenced by the

A)local economy of the times.
B)unemployment rate.
C)poor business-government relationships.
D)local political culture.

Question 19

The "rotten apple" theory describes a situation where

A)the police chief is the source of police corruption.
B)only a few officers are independently engaged in corrupt acts.
C)several corrupt officers cooperate with one another.
D)three to five officers work semi-independently, protecting each other.

Question 20

Corruption reaches a moderate degree of intensity when

A)it includes the management and the media, who hide it from the public.
B)the management is ignorant of it, which allows for the corruption to breed at the lower ranks.
C)a majority of personnel become corrupt but still have little relationship to each other.
D)it includes occasional but serious forms of deviance at all levels involving money.

Question 21

Assuming the temptations to corruption are prevalent in all communities, individual officers are more likely to succumb if

A)they believe they won't be caught or the punishment will not be severe.
B)profits are much greater than their present compensation.
C)the rewards they receive in terms of peer recognition are as great as the monetary profits received from the corruption.
D)rewards do not impose tremendous guilt on their conscience.

Question 22

Controlling police corruption is extremely difficult.The history of the police indicates that successful reform efforts have been

A)lasting.
B)temporary.
C)rejected unless matched with compensation.
D)gradually taken hold with later generations of officers.

Question 23

Officers themselves argue that perhaps the best way to control police deviance is through

A)better salaries.
B)proper working conditions.
C)good first-line supervision.
D)administrative support.

Question 24

The moral career of a corrupt officer begins with relatively

A)minor gratuities.
B)honest attempts to test the system.
C)high peer pressure.
D)immoral experiences.

Question 25

At the outset of their careers, most corrupt police officers are

A)hired without background checks.
B)constantly looking for an opportunity to engage in corruption.
C)honest.
D)looking to become part of a close-knit group of officers.

Question 26

The fact that there is more than ample opportunity for a wide range of deviant activities for police corruption is known as the

A)environment of temptation.
B)lack of integrity training.
C)occupational setting.
D)importance factor.

Question 27

Which of the following aspects of police work contributes to corruption?

A)exposure to opportunity
B)low visibility
C)impact of the work on attitude
D)all of these

Question 28

When virtually all officers in an organization are engaged in systematic arrangements with criminal elements, this type of corruption is known as

A)dog-eat-dog corruption.
B)pervasive organized corruption.
C)public-be-damned corruption.
D)omnipresent organized corruption.

Question 29

The control of corruption involves two different tasks.The first is trying to prevent it from occurring in the first place.The second task revolves around

A)grand jury intervention.
B)close relationships with the prosecutor.
C)reduction and elimination once it exists.
D)use of sting operations to keep everyone honest.

Question 30

When Lawrence Sherman wrote about the moral career of a police officer, he was writing about

A)police officers who are religious.
B)police officers who do great things in their career.
C)police officers who become corrupt.
D)police officers who have criminal records.

Question 31

According to Carter and Barker, ____________ includes actions that tends "to injure, insult, trespass upon human dignity ...and/or violate an inherent legal right" of a citizen

A)police violence
B)police profiteering
C)abuse of authority
D)occupational deviance
E)police perks

Question 32

A major obstacle facing anti-corruption investigations is the same one that all detectives face

A)getting administrative support.
B)obtaining credible evidence.
C)use of proper interrogation techniques.
D)lack of supervisory support.

Question 33

The most important organizational variable in reducing corruption is

A)the quality of personnel and the quality of the work product.
B)a quality human resource management program.
C)a competitive salary with competent management.
D)the quality of management and supervision.

Question 34

Officers in the CRASH unit of which police department were accused in 1998-99 of routinely choking and punching individuals for the sole purpose of intimidating them?

A)Los Angeles
B)Chicago
C)New York
D)Washington
E)Detroit

Question 35

Corruptive activity is heavily dependent on peer pressure, which is particularly strong among police officers.The police subculture places a high value on

A)criticism and cold shoulders.
B)ostracized and defended officers.
C)loyalty and group solidarity.
D)criminal activity and rejection.

Question 36

There are two basic approaches to the control of corruption within an organization

A)community and political.
B)federal and state intervention.
C)peer and supervisory control measures.
D)internal and external.

Question 37

Thomas Barker argues that __________________ contributes to police corruption.

A)a lack of ethics and integrity
B)the occupational setting of police work
C)bad neighborhoods
D)the fact that policing is a low visibility work
E)poor pay

Question 38

Criminal behavior committed during the course of normal work activities or under the guise of the police officer's authority is called

A)police violence.
B)police profiteering.
C)abuse of authority.
D)occupational deviance.
E)police perks.

Question 39

In his classic study of the police subculture, William Westley reported that

A)police officers were willing to lie to cover up an illegal act by other officer.
B)low salaries are the main cause of police corruption.
C)younger officers were much more likely to accept bribes than older officers.
D)police corruption was the result of police unions.

Question 40

The process of creating police corruption by initiating officers into corrupt activities, sustaining it, and by covering it up is known as the

A)corruption organization.
B)occupational subculture.
C)commitment to the pad.
D)occupational setting.

Question 41

Experts agree that successful control of corruption begins with the attitude of the rookie police officer.

Question 42

Public opinion polls consistently indicate that the police rank lower than other occupations in terms of perceived honesty and integrity.

Question 43

The Mollen Commission found that officers who were ideal recruits almost never became involved with corruption.

Question 44

The Mollen Commission found that corrupt officers in New York City stole drugs, money, and guns from drug dealers.

Question 45

Herman Goldstein said that corruption

A)"thrives best in poorly run organizations where lines of authority are vague and supervision is minimal."
B)"begins with the chief and works its way down."
C)"occurs mostly in medium-sized cities."
D)"occurs mostly in poorly educated police departments."
E)"occurs mostly in police departments that are too strict with rules and regulations."

Question 46

The Rampart Scandal occurred in the city of Boston.

Question 47

What are the components of an effective internal corruption control program?

Question 48

Ivkovic's historical analysis of police corruption suggests that very few officers are seriously punished for engaging in corruption.

Question 49

The subculture of policing is a major factor in corruption.It initiates officers into corrupt activities, sustains them, and engages in covering them up.

Question 50

Most police departments have initiated drug-testing programs to identify both applicants and currently employed officers who are using drugs.

Question 51

Excessive use of force is known as abuse of authority.

Question 52

The Mollen Commission investigated which police department?

A)Los Angeles
B)New York City
C)Chicago
D)Las Vegas
E)Denver

Question 53

The Christopher Commission investigated which police department?

A)Los Angeles
B)New York City
C)Chicago
D)Las Vegas
E)Denver

Question 54

Different corrupt acts have different causes but all call for the same control strategies.

Question 55

The Knapp Commission investigated which police department?

A)Los Angeles
B)New York City
C)Chicago
D)Las Vegas
E)Denver

Question 56

During the nineteenth century, one of the fastest ways to get promoted in the New York City police department was to

A)do something heroic.
B)do your job well.
C)pay a fee to get promoted.
D)pass the promotion test with the highest score.

Question 57

During the nineteenth century, payment for promotion was so systematic in the New York City Police Department that there was a printed "price list" for each rank.

Question 58

The refusal of officers to testify against other officers, one of the major factors protecting police corruption, is known as "the blue curtain of silence."

Question 59

Corruption may flourish in a department where it is tolerated, and the same temptations to corruption may prevail in the community.However, individual honest officers typically will not succumb, even if they believe they won't be caught or the punishment, if caught, will not be severe.

Question 60

The refusal of officers to testify against other officers is called

A)the big lie.
B)the blue curtain of silence.
C)the blue brotherhood.
D)the cover-up.
E)the Police Mafia.

Question 61

Define, compare and contrast the terms "police corruption" and "abuse of authority."

Question 62

What are the types of police corruption listed in your text?

Question 63

The textbook suggests that there are three levels of corruption.Identify and explain them.

Question 64

What are the six costs of police corruption?

Question 65

What are the social-structural explanations of police corruption? Summarize each in detail.