Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the small act of accepting a free lunch could lead to a police officer eventually engaging in larger acts of corruption. The paper then looks at the theories that have emerged considering this morally depraved behavior, specifically, the structural/affiliation theory, the society at large theory and the rotten apple hypothesis. The paper contends that in order to prevent corruption, there needs to be greater accountability for public officials as well as greater auditing and punishment when officials are found guilty of these types of unethical acts.

From the Paper:

"When public officials, such as police officers, accept gifts from members of the public the act can seem innocent enough but could in fact lead to bigger acts of corruption or unfair or unequal processes in society. For example if police officers receive gratuities from one business in a community, such a free lunch at a restaurant, the perception of other businesses members in the community is that the police favor that particular business or the police will provide that business better security over the business that does not provide the police officers with gifts.
"Another perceived reason the gift can be considered an act of corruption is it can lead to bigger acts of corruption. Many people in society have suggested that the first step toward a police officer becoming corrupt is the acceptance of gratuities. For example if a police officer accept small gifts this will eventually lead to them accepting larger gifts or for the police officer to engage in what's known as a continuum of graft stages, suggested by Lawrence Sherman, which is gradual stages of gift accepting that leads to full blown corruption (Coleman, 2004).
"The small acts of accepting a free lunch could lead to a police officer eventually engaging in larger corruptions. The slippery slope refers to the slide in the public official's behavior from what would be considered harmless gift giving to behavior that is considered corruptive. This corruptive behavior can lead to a loss of trust by members of the public and disruption in justice. The best policy is to establish policies and procedures that forbid public officials from accepting any type of gift to avoid the appearance of morally depraved behavior."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Coleman. S. (2004).When Police Should Say "No!" to Gratuities. Retrieved October 18, 2011 fromhttp://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-4684537/When-police-should-say-quot.html
• Smith, N. (2007). Hypothesis on Police Corruption. Retrieved October 18, 2011 from https://sites.google.com/a/nathanmsmith.com/nathan-micah-smith---personal

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