Chapter Outline

Chapter Ten: Police Corruption

Lecture Outline

I. Introduction:  police corruption--one of the oldest and persistent problems

II. A definition of police corruption
	A. 2 elements
		1. Misuse of authority
		2. Personal gain
	B. Corruption is only one form of misconduct or deviant behavior by police
	C. Occupational deviance
		1. Criminal and non-criminal behavior
		2. Committed during the course of normal work activities or under guise of police officer authority
		3. Includes improper behavior that is not illegal
		(EX: sleeping on the job)
	D. Abuse of authority--action by an officer that 
		1. Injures, insults human dignity
		2. And/or violates inherent rights of citizens

III. The costs of police corruption
	A. Criminal activity by a police officer undermines basic integrity of law enforcement
	B. Corruption usually protects other criminal activity
	(EX: bribes to protect illegal gambling or drug trafficking)
	C. Undermines the effectiveness of the criminal justice system
		1. Officers routinely testify in court
		2. Reputation for dishonesty damages their credibility in criminal cases
	D. Undermines the professionalism of a police department
		1. Corruption encourages police lying to protect other officers
		2. Lying can spread to other areas of policing
		(EX: lying to cover up excessive force)
	E. Costs taxpayers
	F. Undermines public confidence in the police

IV. Types of corruption
	A. Gratuities
		1. Most common form of police corruption
			a. free meals
			b. discounts on other purchases
		2. Some departments prohibit gratuities, others do not
		3. Mixed motives for business owners
			a. some cases represent a "thank you" to officers for their job
			b. other cases
				i. reflect self-interest
				ii. presence of patrol cars near stores serves as a deterrence
				iii. expectation that the police will return the favor with extra patrol
		4. Argument against gratuities
			a. open the door to more serious forms of corruption
			b. encourage officers to believe they are entitled to special privileges
			and may lead officers to demand them
	B. Bribes-more serious form of corruption
		1. Officer takes money not to write a traffic ticket
		2. Systematic--regular payoffs to protect gambling operation
		3. Sell information about criminal investigations
		4. Alter testimony-"forgetting" information on the witness stand
		5. Destroying evidence
		6. Revealing important points about a prosecution's case
		7. Taking kickbacks for referring arrested people to:
			a. bail bondsmen
			b. defense attorneys
		8. Some bribes protect illegal activities 
		9. Other bribes support legitimate businesses
	C. Theft and burglary
		1. Particularly serious form of corruption
			a. officers taking money away from people arrested for drunkenness
			b. stealing property, money or drugs from department's property room
			c. narcotics arrests--officer making drug raids find large amounts of money and drugs
			d. burglary rings
	D. Internal corruption; in very corrupt departments bribes used for:
		1. promotions
		2. favored assignments
	E. Corruption and brutality
		1. Mollen Commission--convergence of the two
			a. officers brutally beat drug dealers
			b. stole their drugs and money
			c. sold the drugs to other dealers or other officers
			d. brutality was officers' rite of initiation into other misconduct
		2. Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division-CRASH unit
			a. officers actively attacked known gang members
			b. falsely accused individuals of crime they did not commit
			c. routinely choked and punched individuals to intimidate them
			d. planted drugs on suspects to make arrests

V. Levels of corruption
	A. Vary among departments
		1. Some departments have an occasionally deviant officer
		2. Corruption is systematic in others
	B. Measuring corruption is difficult
		1. Covert crime--no victim to complain
		2. Exposure contingent upon often arbitrary factors
		(EX: an aggressive news reporter)
	C. Sherman--3 different levels of corruption
		1. Type I: least serious form
			a. rotten apples: few officers independently engaged in corrupt acts
			b. rotten pockets: several officers cooperate with one another
			(EX: group of officers stealing drugs or money during drug raid)
		2. Type II: higher degree of intensity--pervasive unorganized corruption
			a. majority of personnel is corrupt
			b. have little relationship to each other
			(EX: officers taking bribes for not issuing traffic tickets-not actively cooperating with one another)	
		3. Type III: most serious form--pervasive organized corruption
			a. organized level that penetrates higher levels of department
			b. systematic--shared among all members of a group		

VI. Theories of police corruption
	A. Individual officer explanations
		1. Most popular explanation of police corruption
		2. Rotten apples theory
			a. emphasizes moral failings of individuals
			b. provides convenient scapegoats
			c. avoids dealing with more difficult issues
			d. points in the direction of a simple remedy
		3. Police officials prefer this explanation
			a. allows them to blame a few individuals 
			b. prevents them from investigating larger problems in department
			c. can appear to solve problem by firing guilty officers
		4. Appeals to private citizens
			a. can understand individual guilt better than more complex issues
			b. allows them to avoid making connection between corruption and their own illegal activities
		5. Rotten apples theory is inadequate
			a. does not account for long history of corruption
			b. does not explain why some honest people become corrupt
			c. does not explain why:
				i. some departments have long history of corruption
				ii. while others are relatively free of corruption
	B. Social structural explanations
		1. Criminal law
			a. major cause of police corruption
			b. state and federal laws prohibit or seek to regulate:
				i. many activities people regard as legitimate
				ii. matters of private choices
				(EX: gambling, alcohol and drugs, sexual practices)
			c. conflict of culture and lifestyles
			d. some believe these activities are harmful and immoral
			e. others believe they are acceptable and not harmful to others
			(EX: Prohibition-1920s)
			f. criminal syndicates
				i. financial resources to support political candidates
				ii. in turn use power to influence administration of justice
				(EX: blocking investigation of certain criminal activities)
			g. regulatory ordinances--businesses bribe not to enforce traffic violations (parking)
		2. Cultural conflict
			a. criminal law is a reflection of the cultural diversity of American society
			b. different groups have used the law to prohibit behavior that offends their values; other groups regard the same behavior as legitimate
			c. goals of the legal system may be a precondition of corruption
		3. Local political culture
			a. level of corruption is influenced by local political culture
			b. corruption may occur because it pervades other parts of the government
			c. little is known about how political culture affects law enforcement
	C. The nature of police work
		1. Police work provides many opportunities to be corrupt
			a. constant temptations from people seeking to corrupt officers
			b. organized crime syndicates
				i. enormous financial resources 
				ii. explains why corruption has been the worst among vice officers
		2. Low visibility work
			a. officers generally work alone or in pairs with little supervision
			b. risk of being caught is very low
			c. detectives have less supervision than patrol
				i. face the greatest temptations
				ii. have lowest risk of being caught
		3. Impact on officer attitudes
			a. officers see worst side of humanity
				i. exposed to a steady diet of wrongdoing
				ii. become familiar with ways people prey on one another
			b. officers develop cynical attitude toward people, which can lead to "everyone does it" attitude
	D. The police organization
		1. Leadership
			a. most important organizational variable
			b. corruption flourishes in departments that tolerate it
			c. officers are more likely to succumb to corruption 
				i. if they believe they won't be caught
				ii. or if caught, the punishment will not be severe
		2. Organizational commitment and police deviance-Haarr study
			a. officers with low level of organizational commitment
				i. more likely to engage in work avoidance and misconduct
				(EX: sex with prostitutes, unnecessary use of force)
			b. officers with high level of organizational commitment
				i. more likely to engage in deviance for the organization
				(EX: falsify arrest reports, lie in court to increase work productivity)
	E. The police subculture
		1. Major factor in:
			a. creating corruption--initiating officers into corrupt activities
			b. sustaining corruption--covering up corrupt activities by other officers
		2. Officers are willing to lie or turn a blind eye to improper conduct by other officers
		3. Consequence of peer pressure
		4. Subculture places a high value on loyalty and group solidarity
		5. Officers who are not loyal--ostracized by other officers

VII. Becoming corrupt
	A. The moral careers of individual officers
		1. Most officers honest at the outset of their careers
			a. except those who have prior criminal histories
			b. not rejected during recruitment
		2. 1st stage
			a. minor gratuities--regard free meals as normal part of the job
			b. peer pressure is extremely important
			c. new officer introduced to corrupt acts by fellow officers
			d. under pressure from citizens offering bribes
		3. 2nd and 3rd stages
			a. regulatory offenses
				i. accept a free drink from bar owner
				ii. allows bar to stay open after legal closing hour 
			b. peer pressure is important, if knowledge that other officers are doing the same thing
			c. officer still passively accepting gratuities
		4. At some point
			a. passively accepting gratuities turns into aggressively soliciting bribes
			b. corrupt acts involve more serious violation of the law
				i. become more systematic
				ii. involve larger amounts of money
			c. officer begins to initiate corrupt acts
		5. 4th, 5th and 6th stages
			a. regular payoffs for protection of gambling, prostitution, drug trafficking
			b. officer has reached final point, not just accepting but actively furthering illegal activities
	B. Corrupting organizations
		1. 1st stage--corruption involves isolated individuals or few isolated groups
		2. 2nd and 3rd stages--virtually all officers are engaged in corrupt acts
		3. Final stages
			a. involve pervasive organized corruption
			b. virtually all officers are engaged in corrupt acts

VIII. Controlling corruption
	A. Extremely difficult--many successful reform efforts have only been temporary
	B. Involves two different tasks
		1. Prevent it from occurring in the first place
		2. Reduce it and eliminate it once it exists
	C. Two basic approaches
		1. Internal
		2. External

IX. Internal corruption control strategies
	A. The attitude of the chief
		1. Must make it clear that corruption will not be tolerated
		2. Risks in taking a strong public stand against corruption--open discussion admits existing or possible wrongdoing
	B. Rules and regulations
		1. Clearly defining what actions will not be tolerated--written policies (administrative rulemaking)
		2. Purposes
			a. inform officers of expected standards of behavior
			b. inform the community about those standards
			c. establish the basis for consistency in police operations
			d. provide grounds for discipline and counseling of errant officers
			e. provide standards for officer supervision
			f. give direction for officer training
		3. Debate on some issues
			a. gratuities--some law enforcement officials approve, while others do not
			b. argument against gratuities-they create a climate which might breed more serious corruption
	C. Managing anticorruption investigations
		1. Successful anticorruption effort requires several elements
			a. needs strong backing of the chief executive
			b. internal affairs unit (IAU) needs sufficient number of personnel to handle workload
		2. Disagreement over whether efforts should be centralized or decentralized
		3. Staffing problems--officers generally do not like IAU
			a. regard them as snitches
			b. do not want the assignment themselves
			c. stigma attached to IAU assignments
			d. violates the norms of group solidarity
			e. regard IAU as more intrusive than criminal investigations
			f. believe IAU is biased and out to get certain officers
		4. Garrity ruling--officer can be disciplined and dismissed for refusal to answer IAU questions
		5. Union contracts--chief may have no choice who is assigned to IAU
	D. Investigative tactics
		1. Major obstacle--obtaining credible evidence
		2. Challenges
			a. corruption is often a victimless crime with no complaining party; investigators usually have to initiate investigations on their own
			b. blue curtain
				i. refusal of officers to testify against corrupt officers
				ii. honest officers reluctant to inform on their colleagues 
		3. Successful investigations have often relied on a few corrupt officers who cooperated
	E. Cracking the blue curtain
		1. Recommendations that officers be automatically be terminated for lying
		unless there are special circumstances
		2. Policies may reinforce the code of silence
			a. officers do not come forward due to friendship, loyalty, fear of retaliation
			b. may come forward if they witness repeated misconduct by the same officer
	F. Proactive integrity tests
	G. Effective supervision
		1. If officers think they are not monitored, they conclude they will not get caught
		2. Officers argue good first-line supervision is best way to control deviance
		3. Early warning systems
			a. identify officers with chronic problems
			b. not just designed for punishment--also address problems early in development
	H. Rewarding the good officers
		1. Departments generally fail to reward honest officers
		2. Impact: officers may permanently impair their careers
		3. Mollen Commission findings: honest officers
			a. told not to report corruption
			b. when reported, information was ignored
	I. Personnel recruitment
		1. Effective screening of recruits is important--not always possible to spot potentially corrupt officers at this stage
		2. People with prior arrest records, particularly drugs, have extremely high risk of becoming corrupt if hired as police officers
		3. Disagreement whether applicants should be automatically eliminated 
			a. prior criminal activity and/or drug involvement
			b. almost all agencies refuse to hire anyone with a felony conviction
				i. half refuse to hire with a misdemeanor conviction
				ii. one-third refuse to hire with a misdemeanor arrest but no conviction
		4. Most departments hire individuals with prior drug history but make distinctions between:
			a. experimentation
			b. use
			c. abuse
		5. Many departments have initiated drug-testing programs to identify drug involvement with applicants and current officers 

X. External corruption control approaches
	A. Once corruption exists in a department-extremely difficult to eliminate; it often occurs when internal control has broken down
	B. Special investigations
		1. Advantage: independent of the police department
		2. Disadvantages
			a. may lack the inner day-to-day workings of the department
			b. may arouse hostility of rank-and-file
			c. may aggravate existing tendency of police to close ranks, refuse to cooperate	
	C. Criminal prosecution
		1. Potential remedy for violations of the criminal law
			a. specific corruption-related offenses
			b. theft, possession and sale of narcotics, perjury
		2. Easier in many respects than prosecution of excessive force complaints
		(EX: easier to prove criminal intent to receive a bribe than criminal intent to beat someone)
		3. May not be a long-term remedy
		a. departments have prosecuted and convicted officers
		b. yet corruption persists
	D. Mobilizing public opinion
		1. Media play important role in shaping public opinion about corruption--often expose corruption and set in motion the reform process
		2. Limitations of the media
			a. media-generated scandals tend to be short-lived
			b. tend to cover only the most dramatic aspects of the scandal, usually focus on individuals who become scapegoats
			c. underlying causes of corruption are complex and not newsworthy
			d. scandals produce dramatic responses but do not necessarily address the underlying problem
	E. Altering the external environment
		1. Departments not completely at the mercy of external political environment
		2. Reform-minded chiefs may alter external influences
	F. The limits of anti-corruption efforts
		1. Rules and regulations designed to prevent corruption limit capacity of government agencies to be creative and flexible in carrying out basic missions
		2. Argument suffers two flaws
			a. example is New York-specific
			b. departments in other cities have successfully reduced corruption

XI. Summary