Noble Cause Corruption
Lonny Colling
Monroe College
3/22/2015
In criminal justice there are different kinds of corruption. A regular corruption is where a person will use unethical or illegal means to obtain a desired goal. This is often defined as personal gain. In Noble Cause Corruption is where someone is convinced of their righteousness and will do anything they have to in order to execute their actions. (Martinelli 2010) According to police ethics Noble Cause Corruption is police misconduct committed to have a good ending. This is similar to the teleological ethical system that says this ethical system is concerned with the consequence or an end of an action to determine goodness. In other words, it doesn’t matter how you produce the results as long as the desired outcome occurs. Noble cause corruption is bad because it could lead to an innocent person going to jail, a guilty person being set free because evidence may have been fabricated or if caught it could end in the end of a law enforcement career and it could be hard to find another career with that on a record. An example of noble cause corruption would be, a police officer who wants to catch all the criminals but knows that he cannot catch them all because they know how to get rid of evidence against them, might make up false evidence and break the law to catch the criminals and ensure a conviction. Although the officer gives a good reason for his actions by saying that he just wants to make the streets safer, he violates the law and civil liberties of those he arrests. According to noble cause corruption blogspot “In fact, there are studies which say that noble cause corruption has become a part of police subculture. This means that many police officers are doing it and they feel that they are right and that they are justified in their actions.” (Noble Cause) With noble cause corruption still an issue in everyday life that means there might be innocent people going to prison because the officer probably used illegal methods to get them there. One reason why noble cause corruption is an issue in today’s law enforcement might be because of how they judge the criminals just on what they have done in the past. In today’s society people want criminals in prison. They want longer and harsher punishments and even the death penalty. With all of this going on today’s society it might force law enforcement to commit noble cause corruption. The public always categorizes cops into two categories, good cop and bad cop. Good cops catch criminals and bad cops protect them. With cops who commit noble cause corruption how are they classified? Are they considered good cops for getting bad guys in jail or are they bad for breaking the law? The noble cause corruption blogspot says “What is most worrisome is that these activities are being done not only by police officer who are known as rotten apples but even those considered as best officers who are also respected by their peers . As such, it is considered as the most threatening type of misconduct. It is basically the idea deeply held by individuals who think that the ends justify the means.“ So by cops coworkers, officers who commit noble cause corruption are considered good cops. According to police one about one third of all incoming academy
