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’ ...
