Based on unprecedented empirical research conducted with lower levels of the Afghan police, this unique study assesses how institutional legacy and external intervention, from countries including the UK and the US, have shaped the structural conditions of corruption in the police force and the state.
Taking a social constructivist approach, the book combines an in-depth analysis of internal political, cultural and economic drivers with references to several regime changes affecting policing and security, from the Soviet occupation and Mujahidin militias to Taliban religious police.
Crossing disciplinary boundaries, Singh offers an invaluable contribution to the literature and to anti-corruption policy in developing and conflict-affected societies.
Policing is at a turbulent turning point: the pace of change is accelerating with renewed emphasis on crime reduction yet with austerity. This topical book examines what matters in policing, rather than just what works. It compares the implications of restructuring in the UK and The Netherlands, also in the USA, regarding police systems, policing paradigms and research knowledge. The authors, who cover both academia and practice, focus particularly on dilemmas for police leadership relating to strategy, values and operational command. With a foreword by Peter Neyround, University of Cambridge, it argues for developing confident and competent leadership and also provide a comprehensive paradigm to chart policing in the future while retaining trust. It is accessibly written for academics, practitioners, policy makers and students in diverse societies.
. Examples include scandals concerning drug-related corruption leading to independent anti-corruption agencies investigating the police in Hong Kong, Singapore and New South Wales (Pyman et al, 2012: 14). Civil society plays a key role in raising awareness of police scandals, which leads to reform, such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) exposing police corruption in the USA (HRW, 1998). One of the most famous first commissions was the Knapp Commission looking into pervasive corruption of the NYPD between 1970 and 1972. This Commission became known to the world via the
of conduct could include more reference to religion and ethics in order to raise the integrity and honesty of the Afghan police. Furthermore, public scandal can engage commissions and the media to call for police reform and prevention strategies (Sherman, 1978a: 244–55) that occurred from the Knapp Commission to investigate corruption in the NYPD and the Wood Royal Commission for the New South Wales police. Another police prevention approach includes disbanding an entire department such as the Afghan highway police in 2006 due to engagement with drug
extensive, ‘if not a rotten orchard’ (Knapp Commission, 1972: 61). More recently, Gottschalk (2012: 170, 173, 177) has argued that the bad apples analogy is based on an individual approach for personal gain that is in contention with a rotten orchard (systemic failure). Police commissioners and senior staff can easily point to a few individuals rather than acknowledging systemic failings that breed police corruption and deter investigations when brought to them. The few bad apples syndrome makes prevention strategies pivotal to recognise and avert systemic
preserve solidarity. Updated research by Johnson (2010: 58) indicates that a code of silence for secretive police behaviour is not to be exposed under any circumstances. When police officers provide training in integrity and ethics within a department that is rampant with corruption, corruption is tolerated and recruits undergo a socialisation process into a corrupt police subculture that undermines integrity and efforts to curb police corruption (Knapp Commission, 1972: 241; Mollen Commission, 1994: 120). In more recent literature, Alpert et al (2015: 105
activities. ‘Birds’ are a further category of officer who, in contrast to those who fall into the four main groupings, distance themselves from deviant behaviour and manage to stay out of corrupt practices. They tend to be forgotten, yet they are an interesting group, because they ‘fly above’ corrupt or corruptive practices. A NYPD officer before the Knapp Commission (1972) spoke of the ‘birds’ who glided above without looking down and without taking part: ‘The birds just fly up high. They don’t eat anything either because they are honest or because they don’t have
includes occupational forms of solidarity such as loyalty and secrecy (Corsianos, 2012: 95). Police officers belong to a rigid culture, and solidarity within teams can be high. High internal solidarity intensifies peer group pressure, which relates to socialisation with other police officers. Prenzler (2009: 24) identifies that police culture is attributed to ‘on-the-job socialisation’, which can support police corruption. Therefore, police corruption may be part of the socialisation process, as identified by Serpico at the Knapp Commission. Sherman (1985
