Abstract
This paper will address the “slippery slope” and how it relates to accepting gratuities. Also it will discuss theories on corruption such as the society-at-large hypothesis, the structural or affiliation hypothesis, and the rotten apple hypothesis.
In policing, the term slippery slope applies to the corruption of morals of the officers. It basically means that corruption can begin with something that seems harmless at first, but will escalate into something termed crimes-for-profit . Something as small as a free cup of coffee here or a discounted meal there can easily lead, in a matter of time, to something as big as taking money to “look the other way” while a drug smuggler drives through with an outrageous amount of drugs. Another example is an officer taking a gift of small monetary value for catching a burglar in a store which could, in the end, escalate to the officer expecting or offering his services of extra attention to stores for bigger monetary gifts or even money period. …show more content…
Wilson’s society-at-large hypothesis as society doing something that is normal to servants, to public servants as well and considering it commonplace . Basically he is saying that giving tips to people like doormen, maids, and delivery persons is typical and people do it all the time so it became common for these people to attempt to “tip” the police in that way also. A business person or a truck driver who has been pulled over will clip some money to their license at a traffic stop to get out of a ticket and it became the norm in that area. This is where the slippery slope comes into play. It began with small bribes at traffic stops but from there the police expected it. Then those small bribes will eventually turn into something bigger; the crimes-for-profit discussed