We Americans always expect the best. But when it comes to those we serve and protect, we don't pay enough attention. Police men and women often abuse their power. In this way, civilian lives as well as tax dollars are lost. This happens too often. It's called police corruption. Serve and protect are common words associated with police officers. Some law enforcement officers degrade the honor and integrity of the job. Although it is a serious and real problem, many people do not fully understand what police corruption is. Police corruption is the illegal use of legitimate authority. Or illegal abuse of power for personal gain. Police corruption is a serious problem affecting nearly every city in the country and around the world. To show you how often this happens, here are some statistics. From January 2010 to June 2010, 2,541 complaints of police misconduct were cited. 3,240 law enforcement officers included in police misconduct reports. 178 of the reported law enforcement officers were department heads, police chiefs and sheriffs. 4,199 alleged victims of police misconduct associated with these complaints. 124 deaths associated with these reports. An average of 17.9 law enforcement officers were cited in the news each day for misconduct. $148,512,000 in approximate settlements and judgments related to police misconduct paid during this period. There were only six months to go. The most common type of misconduct is excessive force (23%). Thirteen percent of excessive force reports involved victims, and of those, 60 percent involved firearms. The dirtiest and most harmful type of corruption is frame-ups. A frame-up is a common form of bribery used daily by police officers. A frame-up occurs when a police officer...... middle of paper...... receives threats. Preventing corruption is a difficult task but measures can be taken to prevent it. Another idea to help fight corruption is to increase the officer's salary. The idea of ​​increasing the salary of police officers has been around for years and is one of the main ideas to solve this serious problem. The average salary of police officers is around sixty thousand dollars. This price is too low for the people who risk their lives every day for our safety. The salary of police officers should be increased significantly to prevent the officer from accepting bribes or getting involved in criminal activities to make money. This alone will not end or solve the problem of police corruption. Other factors need to be addressed and addressed to fully resolve this issue: More time spent on training, background checks, and mental assessments would help slow corruption.