dangerous, and unfortunately, at times there are officers who not only overstep their boundaries but jump 
directly in the pit of corruption. 
While the media paints a picture that most police officers are corrupt, this could not be further from the 
truth. The Bureau of Justice confirmed that only 0.02% of the police officers in the U.S. engage in some 
type of corruption. While the media makes money selling stories, the police story that starts the five-o’clock 
news is not always true. When the media covers a police shooting for instance, the investigation has not 
been completed, therefore the only answer the police department will have for the media is ‘no comment.’ 
A cover-up then comes to mind; however, when the invesitgation is completed weeks to months later, 
the media is not always as interested in the story, especially if there was no police corruption. Even more 
importantly it takes two-years to basically train a new police officer. The same police officer then continually 
trains every month to ensure the knoweldge of current laws and many other tactics are up-to-date. Unless 
one is a trained commissioned law enforcement officer, there is no way the public, nor media can truly 
understand why an officer acted and responded the way he or she did, unless they experienced the exact same 
circumstance. 
No matter the profession, whether it is an actor, a cashier, a president of a non-profit organization, or a 
police officer, corruption can occur. The focus on law enforcement is more dramatic due to the glarmour of 
the type of work performed. Either way, corruption should not be condoned and if it does occur, the reaction 
must be swift and stern. Those in law enforcement hold a badge which grants the carrier the authority to 
take away a person’s rights therefore, the authority that comes with the badge should NEVER be taken for 
granted. 
Grass Eaters 
In 1970, The Knapp Commission coined the terms ‘meat eaters’and ‘grass eaters’ after an exhaustive 
investigation into New York Police Department corruption. Police officers that were grass eaters accepted 
benefits. Whether it was a free coffee at the local coffee shop, fifty percent off lunch, or free bottled water 
from the local convenience store, these cops would take the freebie and not attempt to do the right thing by 
explaining why they cannot accept the benefit and then pay for the benefit. By accepting benefits, the officer 
was, in turn, agreeing that whoever gave the benefit, i.e., coffee, or lunch, etc., was to receive something 
in return. What if the coffee shop wanted the officer to patrol their shop every morning between the busy 
hours of six and seven a.m.? Would that be fair to other coffee shop owners that did not give free coffee to 
the officer? 
1 
Meat Eaters 
These officers expected some tangible item personally from those served, in order to do their job. Whether 
it was money ‘shakedown’ to ensure a convenience store was not robbed, or the officer felt there was nothing 
wrong with stealing from a drug dealer during a drug raid; ‘no one would notice a pound of cocaine missing, 
right?’ These officers felt entitled and were aggressive in making sure they got what they thought was theirs. 
If a person has the lifelong goal of being a police officer, then that same person will want to protect the 
innocent from those criminals that aim to do them harm. 
Noble Cause Corruption 
Noble-cause corruption is a lot more commonplace then many think. Many officers work twenty-five 
years and may never see another cop steal something, but they will see noble-cause corruption. Most officers 
join the force to make the world a better place in one way or another. While officers understand they cannot 
1. Caldero, M. A., Dailey, J. D., & Withrow, B. L. (2018). Police Ethics: The Corruption of Noble Cause (4th ed.). New York, NY, USA: 
Routledge/Taylor and Francis. 
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