A law enforcement officer who is corrupt and practicing criminal misconduct is known colloquially as a “dirty cop”. The 2001 movie Training Day featured the actor Denzil Washington cast as a “dirty cop” – a dishonest narcotics detective with a massive ego, who inflates his official income with bribes and kickbacks from drug dealers and others. We all know such people exist in the real world, but how widespread is the problem and what, typically, do they do and why? This paper seeks to answer these questions.
Magnitude of the Problem
“Dirty cops” are – regrettably – to be found anywhere and just about everywhere. INTERPOL, which is “the world’s largest international police organization, with 190 member countries” states in an article, entitled Corruption that: “Corruption affects all regions of the world and all levels of society, but the impact is greatest in developing countries. Every year, developing countries lose USD 50 million to 100 million through corrupt acts.” The article also states that: “Corruption is of particular concern for the world’s police and judicial systems, as corruption in one country can compromise an entire international investigation.”
But just how big a problem are “dirty cops” in the U.S.? Despite various investigations and a number of high profile cases and convictions over the years, it has been difficult to establish the real extent of the corruption. It is highly likely that part of the difficulty is that senior police department officers and local officials would rather not admit to a problem that they knew existed, as it would reflect badly on them personally and on the town or city too.
Lou Cannon, in a New York Times article entitled “One Bad Cop” (2000), discussed in some depth the case against corrupt police officers in Los Angeles, including one Rafael Perez. It was a complex case described in a piece that makes interesting reading, reporting the numerous drug and other offenses including shooting of unarmed people (then concocting stories to justify the shootings) that Perez was eventually found to have committed over a long period. However, it was also interesting (and worrying) to note that in this case some members of the judiciary and even the district attorney’s office, appeared reluctant to acknowledge the clear signs of police corruption indicated in a number of Perez’ previous cases.
In another article, entitled “Ex-Chief Tells of Widespread Police Corruption”, published in the New York Times on April 1, 1999, Alexander V. Oriente, former head of the West New York force “painted a sordid picture today of a corrupt department and admitted taking in millions through bribes and extortion of criminals and prostitutes.” The article reports that more than 30 officers were charged in connection with the case.
However, although the bad apples make the headlines, the reality is that – according to experts – the number of law enforcement officers who break the laws they have sworn to uphold is small. Maureen Boyle (March, 2009) filed a report on the local news site for Dedham, Massachusetts, entitled: “Good cop, bad cop: Statistics show less than 1 percent of police officers run afoul of the law”. In the report Boyle cites Neal Trautman from the National Institute of Ethics, who claims that overall “It is less than 1 percent.”
Why Cops Go Bad
The Boyle report mentioned above gives some insight into why some law enforcement personnel transgress legal and/or ethical boundaries, either in their job or while off duty. She cites Marcel Beausoleil, a professor of criminal justice at Anna Maria College, who claims that “Police have other temptations on the job that other people don’t have”. Examples he gives include that a policeman can arrest someone, taking away their liberty, and is often in a position of trust (and temptation!) being alone with amounts of cash and/or drugs. He also suggests that a cop can feel isolated from people in other jobs because of things they see and experience in their work, sometimes leading to alcohol problems. Another study mentioned in the Boyle report suggest that reasons for cops being tempted to stray from the straight and narrow were headed by “greed, anger, lust and peer pressure”. The report also quoted Michael Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics in California, who claimed that due in part to job pressures and isolation from the rest of the community, law officers – through a deep sense of loyalty – can be tempted to cover up infractions by colleagues, especially in smaller police departments, where colleagues are mostly personal friends too.
In the Perez case mentioned earlier, after his arrest it was found that he had “unexplained” bank deposits, that he had extensive modifications to his house, and had been living well beyond the means of his police salary. However, greed and personal wealth were not his only motivations. From interviews it seems that he thought it perfectly OK to “break rules” by setting up gang members. He said: “These guys don't play by the rules; we don't have to play by the rules” “They're out there committing murders and then they intimidate the witnesses, so the witnesses don't show up in court. So they're getting away with murder every day.”
Conclusions
References
Boyle, Maureen. (March, 2009). Good cop, bad cop: Statistics show less than 1 percent of police officers run afoul of the law. Dedham Transcript. Retrieved from http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/state/x1959832320/Good-cop-bad-cop-Statistics-show-less-than-1-percent-of-police-officers-run-afoul-of-the-law?zc_p=0#axzz1xmBFyAi0
Cannon, Lou. (October, 2000). One Bad Cop. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.losangelescriminallawyer.pro/files/one_bad_cop_-_new_york_times.pdf
Corruption. (n.d.). INTERPOL – Connecting Police for a Safer World. Retrieved from http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Corruption/Corruption
Ex-Chief Tells of Widespread Police Corruption. (April 1, 1999). New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/01/nyregion/ex-chief-tells-of-widespread-police-corruption.html
Training Day. (2001). Movie Review. Retrieved from http://attrition.org/movies/tday.html
