Proactive
Prevention Measures: A
specific number of officers will be appointed or a separate unit will
be established to handle corruption prevention measures.
There responsibilities will be: To review the findings of the
internal affairs investigations for patterns which are indicative of
corrupt police behavior.
To
review duty
assignments to ensure that
periodic rotations are occurring according to requirements.
To
review
overtime pay assignments......
Corruption is defined as
"acts involving the misuse of authority by a police officer in a manner
designed to produce personal gain for him/herself or
others." Every
Department should have policy in place for the detection/prevention
of police corruption. Unfortunately, the problem
with corruption is that it flows from the top, down. It is for these
reasons that Departments hire outside
administrators to deter the formation of "good old boys" networks.
It is for this
same reason that many
Departments
implement corruption prevention policy. This can be most
advantageous to both the officer and the union as it lays the
foundation for grievances to be filed. Grievances that would
otherwise be denied on the grounds of "managerial prerogative" are now
given credence and can be used to bring disparities to light.
Check
your Department Guidelines to
determine if you have a Corruption
Prevention
Policy.
If you
do not, you may want to request that your Department implement one,
they will be hard
pressed to justify a decision against such a policy.
Detecting
Corruption
"The
commission uncovered a systemic pattern of official misconduct,
nepotism and abuse of the public trust so pervasive in this community
as to cause local budgetary hardships and jeopardize the local police
department's ability to finance its operation."
The Commission
Report
that
the above quote was
taken from outlines the many forms
that
corruption takes within a police department and is offered to help the
officer and union recognize these forms and look for them within
his/her department.
Although many
officers feel that they do not have access to the information contained
in this report, most of it is public information and can be obtained
through the use of OPRA (Open Public Records Act). Each
municipality or agency should have on its web site a OPRA form and
instructions for filling out same.
Grant information
should also be available to you through this request. If it
is
not, the officer can
contact the grant agency directly or through the
League of Municipalities to obtain the information.
Commissions
can
be formed at the request of your union. A neutral
"investigator"
(usually an attorney) can be assigned to audit the police department
and the union's complaints. Your governing authority,
Director of
Public Safety, Mayor, etc., would be the ones to order an investigation
into complaints of corruption.
This
web site is designed for general information only. The information
presented at this site should not be construed to be formal legal
advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.