This paper is divided into two sections with the first section explaining the slippery slope hypothesis and its’ relationship gratuities. The second section discusses the three theories regarding public corruption: society-at-large, structural or affiliation, and rotten apple hypotheses and how these three hypotheses all tie into the slippery slope theory.
An example of slippery slope and how it is linked to police corruption begins with any gratitude such as a cup of coffee that a police officer may take. The notion of slippery slope is the continuous dispute apt for the no gratuity policy. This argument is linked to police corruption because gratuities of any kind, where it be a gift, discount or a benefit that a police officer may receive because of their profession. The causal link from gratitude to slippery slope is the acceptance of even the smallest gift, such as a cup of coffee. Even though the acceptance of the cup of coffee is not wrong, it is the gradual effect that cup of coffee can lead to being devastating in the end. This is because the provider of the cup of coffee could obtain an unequal amount of police service at the expense of others. The slippery slope hypothesis states that corruption begins with apparently harmless and well-intentioned practices and leads over time to all manners of crime-for-profit. (Delattre, 2011) This practice can involve individuals as well as whole departments by accepting police gratuities. The slippery slope practice can cause harm to the police service by accepting gifts in exchange of special services, even some that may be illegal, by ordinary citizens.
Theories regarding public corruption and how police corruption develops have become a problem throughout the years. There are three major theories regarding public corruption: society-at-large hypothesis, structural or affiliation hypothesis, and rotten apple hypothesis. Each of these theories provides a different look in regards to police…