The Slippery Slope Hypothesis: Police Corruption
Kaplan University
CJ340: Applied CJ Ethics
Unit 4 Assignment
August 26, 2013
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines “slippery slope” as a course of action that seems to lead inevitably to from one action or result to another unintended consequence (Merriem-Webster, 2013). The “slippery slope” can refer to almost every walk of live but here it is being applied to law enforcement and accepting gratuities. Here it is referring to police officers accepting what may seem to be harmless gratuities which may later put the officer in a position where their ethics are called into question. There are several hypotheses that can be applied to analyze police corruption in addition to the slippery slope hypothesis. Three of …show more content…
An example would be a celebrity who has off duty police officer working on their security detail. The celebrity gives the officers small gifts such as free meals as gratitude for their service. These free meals eventually turn into VIP tickets to sports events and concerts for the officers. Eventually the officers are receiving expensive watches and clothes from the celebrity. The celebrity may eventually believe that they can trust the officer enough to turn a blind eye to some illegal activity that they are involved with. An example of this would be the police officer turning a blind eye to the celebrity doing a line of cocaine. Now that the celebrity knows that they can trust the officer, the celebrity may expect the officer to also turn a blind eye to sex with underage girls. The celebrity may not only use drugs, but may also finance a drug operation that they expect the officer to overlook. If this were to happen and be exposed, the integrity of the officers who received these gifts will no doubt be called into question. Even if there were no illegal activity going on, officers receiving these gifts would be looked at with …show more content…
The structural or affiliation hypothesis is based in corruption emerging because deviant behavior is accepted within the police force (Delattre, 2011). Using our two hypothetical scenarios as examples it is easy to see how the slippery slope and society at large hypotheses are tied in to the structural or affiliation hypothesis. In the slippery slope hypothesis example of police officers performing off duty security for the celebrity, a new officer may be brought into the fold. This officer may question why the officers are receiving such elaborate gifts and turning a blind eye to the celebrities’ illegal activities. This officer would more than likely be told to keep his/her mouth shut and just go along with the program. The same would hold true for the officers accepting bribes for turning a blind eye to traffic violations in the society at large hypothesis example. So far it can be seen how the slippery slope, society at large, and structural or affiliation hypothesis all tie directly into one
CJ340: Applied CJ Ethics
Unit 4 Assignment
August 26, 2013
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines “slippery slope” as a course of action that seems to lead inevitably to from one action or result to another unintended consequence (Merriem-Webster, 2013). The “slippery slope” can refer to almost every walk of live but here it is being applied to law enforcement and accepting gratuities. Here it is referring to police officers accepting what may seem to be harmless gratuities which may later put the officer in a position where their ethics are called into question. There are several hypotheses that can be applied to analyze police corruption in addition to the slippery slope hypothesis. Three of …show more content…
An example would be a celebrity who has off duty police officer working on their security detail. The celebrity gives the officers small gifts such as free meals as gratitude for their service. These free meals eventually turn into VIP tickets to sports events and concerts for the officers. Eventually the officers are receiving expensive watches and clothes from the celebrity. The celebrity may eventually believe that they can trust the officer enough to turn a blind eye to some illegal activity that they are involved with. An example of this would be the police officer turning a blind eye to the celebrity doing a line of cocaine. Now that the celebrity knows that they can trust the officer, the celebrity may expect the officer to also turn a blind eye to sex with underage girls. The celebrity may not only use drugs, but may also finance a drug operation that they expect the officer to overlook. If this were to happen and be exposed, the integrity of the officers who received these gifts will no doubt be called into question. Even if there were no illegal activity going on, officers receiving these gifts would be looked at with …show more content…
The structural or affiliation hypothesis is based in corruption emerging because deviant behavior is accepted within the police force (Delattre, 2011). Using our two hypothetical scenarios as examples it is easy to see how the slippery slope and society at large hypotheses are tied in to the structural or affiliation hypothesis. In the slippery slope hypothesis example of police officers performing off duty security for the celebrity, a new officer may be brought into the fold. This officer may question why the officers are receiving such elaborate gifts and turning a blind eye to the celebrities’ illegal activities. This officer would more than likely be told to keep his/her mouth shut and just go along with the program. The same would hold true for the officers accepting bribes for turning a blind eye to traffic violations in the society at large hypothesis example. So far it can be seen how the slippery slope, society at large, and structural or affiliation hypothesis all tie directly into one