Deck 12: The Causes of Police Misconduct

Question 1

The United States is the most violent and dangerous society in all of the industrialized world.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The capitalistic system expects everyone to

A) behave in a (somewhat) greedy fashion
B) work harder, produce more goods and better services
C) create more significant innovations and invent better products
D) all of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Errant police officers condemning the condemners is a rationalization known as appeal to higher loyalties.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Greed becomes a form of deviance when it moves people to

A) break the rules
B) circumvent the law
C) take unfair advantage of others
D) all of the above

Question 5

When channeled in a positive way, greed works to make life better.

Question 6

Strain theory says that the economic distance or gap between the very poor and the extremely rich is the cause of crime.

Question 7

When channeled in a positive way, greed works to make life better for

A) individuals
B) families
C) the general public
D) all of the above

Question 8

Police officers are __________ presented with the opportunity to obtain personal gain at the expense of others.

A) often
B) occasionally
C) rarely
D) never

Question 9

The capitalistic system expects everyone not to behave in a (somewhat) greedy fashion.

Question 10

There is only one form police misconduct and only one cause for it.

Question 11

Candidates to become police officers frequently suffer from the nurture-related causal factors that can cause deviance in civilians.

Question 12

Using the denial of responsibility rationalization, police officers deny their misbehavior caused any injury.

Question 13

Under the "ethic to live by," doing good with personal greed as the rationale is

A) a corruption of authority
B) still doing good
C) doing bad
D) irrelevant

Question 14

Greed in a police officer who wants more no matter what it takes may make them

A) follow the rules
B) pay close attention to their duties
C) ignore their duties
D) be a model citizen

Question 15

When seeking advancement, police may seek

A) assignments that are difficult and dangerous
B) to obtain positions of greater responsibility
C) to do good work and a competent job
D) all of the above

Question 16

One of the reasons that police may be susceptible to misconduct is that

A) much police work is done alone and unobserved
B) police are predisposed to corruption
C) police are greedy
D) everyone is doing it, so why shouldn't the individual officer?

Question 17

Some police misconduct is the product of the sorts of greed combined with opportunity or chance that causes people in general to deviate from society norms and laws.

Question 18

In police officers, greed

A) can be a good, positive force
B) is always a terrible thing
C) is usually a terrible thing
D) is frequently a terrible thing

Question 19

Corruption of authority can be described as

A) junior officers bribing senior officers
B) police bribing other governmental officials
C) police "selling their badges"
D) police officers taking dangerous assignments while seeking promotion

Question 20

One of the causes of deviant behavior is rational choice.

Question 21

When police officers focus on the character of the victim of police misconduct, they are

A) denying any injury
B) denying that they are responsible
C) denying the victim
D) appealing to a higher loyalty

Question 22

Consider the numerous types of opportunities to misbehave that are regularly presented to police officers. Give specific examples of how each type of misconduct can eventuate from such opportunities.

Question 23

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

A) was a boxer
B) was framed for murder
C) was portrayed by Denzel Washington
D) all of the above

Question 24

Noble cause corruption may substitute police intuition for

A) legal rules of procedure
B) fair rules of procedure
C) equitable rules of procedure
D) all of the above

Question 25

When police officers view their acts as predetermined by people, events, and situations they cannot influence, they are

A) denying any injury
B) denying that they are responsible
C) denying the victim
D) appealing to a higher loyalty

Question 26

The system may "give up" and dismiss erring cops if

A) the officer involved cannot or will not change themselves
B) the officer involved does not respond to positive discipline
C) the officer involved is so incompetent that nothing will rectify the situation
D) all of the above

Question 27

__________ pointed out that police officers sometimes misbehave in an effort to do good work and get their job done

A) August Vollmer
B) Carl Klockars
C) Aristotle
D) Clint Eastwood

Question 28

When police officers accuse those who have accused them of misconduct, they are

A) denying any injury
B) denying that they are responsible
C) condemning the condemners
D) appealing to a higher loyalty

Question 29

A police officer who never takes payoffs of any kind

A) doesn't exist
B) can still be considered a grass eater if they are aware of meat eating and take no action to stop it
C) is a meat eater
D) all of the above

Question 30

Ineptitude often occurs

A) almost inadvertently, usually without malice
B) intentionally, often with malice
C) intentionally, typically with malice
D) because of noble cause corruption

Question 31

How is it that the police subculture, even in today's modern world of professionalism and COP, can support and even generate police misconduct? What types are most prone to be supported by the subculture?

Question 32

The "Dirty Harry problem"

A) was the name of the fourth movie in the Clint Eastwood series
B) was solved by going 10-100
C) is another label for noble cause corruption
D) is another label for corruption of authority

Question 33

How is it that ineptitude constitutes the overwhelming majority of instances of police misconduct? Since most misconduct is about transgressing general orders, do you think that it is appropriate that this type be handled informally, by sergeants?

Question 34

When police officers tell themselves that no one was really hurt, they are

A) denying any injury
B) denying that they are responsible
C) denying the victim
D) appealing to a higher loyalty

Question 35

Perhaps the most troublesome reality about the use of excessive force is that there are multiple causes of it. Of the five kinds of police misconduct, at least three of them can lead to this type of deviance. And because this is true, there is no one "cure" or approach to doing away with it. Write an essay engaging all of the multiple causes of excessive force that you can think of. Then spend some time in your essay reflecting upon how all of this creates quite a frustrating reality for police officers, for police leaders, for police review systems, and/or for students of police behavior.

Question 36

One of the most difficult types of police misconduct to deter is

A) corruption of authority
B) police crime
C) personal gain-oriented misconduct
D) none of the above

Question 37

When police officers perjure themselves to protect another officer, they are

A) denying any injury
B) denying that they are responsible
C) condemning the condemners
D) appealing to a higher loyalty

Question 38

Discuss Klockars's idea that there is no such thing as a definition of "excessive force." Do you agree? What are the consequences of this fact?

Question 39

If ineptitude is the product of inadvertent incompetence, police officers should

A) be given positive counseling and training by their leaders
B) be dismissed immediately from the force
C) be publicly admonished for their failures
D) be held out for ridicule by their leaders