Anti-Corruption Reforms in the Police: Current Strategies and Issues

Abstract

During the 1990s a number of high-profile corruption cases, involving police officers engaging in serious criminal activity, merged with wider debates on police integrity. This article examines the anti-corruption strategies employed by the Metropolitan Police and Merseyside Police. Some current risk areas of corruption are examined and then the roles of dedicated anti-corruption units, preventive measures and other techniques are discussed. What appears qualitatively different about the current approach of these two services is the internal commitment which is reflected in the operations of a dedicated anti-corruption unit, the development of preventive measures and the recognition that a successful anti-corruption unit should operate in a developing system of overall ‘professional standards’. The latter includes the development of a series of managerial, organisational and procedural systems extending throughout the organisation.

Professional Boundaries: Crossing a Line or Entering the Shadows?

“…This was particularly noted in the policing literature (Alain, 2004;Marc and Martin, 2008;Westmarland, 2001;Westmarland, 2005), with a focus on anti-corruption and 'integrity' policies and strong leadership (Lamboo et al, 2008;Moran, 2002;Punch, 2000). Local subcultures can introduce alternative ethical hierarchies, including a code of silence (Ekenvall, 2002).…”

The surprising case of police bribery reduction in South Africa

“…The research suggests, however, that a sufficiently significant disruptive event-in this case, in the form of the Limpopo interventioncan push back against these specific enabling factors that are likely ever-present in police sectors plagued by seemingly entrenched patterns of corruption, especially if able to use the sector's own unique characteristics to support this. In terms of police corruption, while there are other examples in the literature where corruption has been reduced in the sector, these tend to be standalone studies (e.g., [68][69][70], among others). Indeed, there is a paucity of comparative research on the sector, which makes it difficult to assess whether the disruptive effect seen in Limpopo is unusual and how it might compare to cases elsewhere.…”

Conceptualizing corruption prevention: a systematic literature review

“…Furthermore, two specific sectors are worth mentioning: the police (13.04 per cent) and the construction industry (8.7 per cent). In light of being considered highly corruption-prone sectors, the law enforcement sector (Osse, 1997;Poerting and Vahlenkamp, 1998;Punch, 2000;Moran, 2002;Quah, 2006;Gutierrez-Garcia and Rodriguez, 2016) and the construction sector (Zou, 2006;Sohail and Cavill, 2008;Tabish and Jha, 2012;Le et al, 2014;Reeves-Latour and Morselli, 2017) emerge as fertile grounds where preventive methods, theories and tools have been studied. Indeed, Table II shows the articles' contributions to their respective fields.…”

“…Elsewhere, Moran (2002) underlines the need for proper means of evaluation of preventive reforms, both on a quantitative and qualitative level. In the context of the police, Punch (2000) insists on the importance of leadership for effective implementation, as well as a sufficient allocation of resources.…”