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9 Police Stud.: Int'l Rev. Police Dev. 42 (1986)
A Preliminary Analysis - Corruption of Political, Economic, Legal and Social Elements in Communities Involved in International Drug Trafficking and Its Effects on Police Integrity

handle is hein.journals/polic9 and id is 52 raw text is: A Preliminary Analysis - Corruption of Political, Economic, Legal and Social Elements in Communities Involved in International Drug Trafficking and its Effects on Police Integrity John H. Langer, International Association of Chiefs of Police Introduction Maintaining the integrity of police and other criminal justice officials in the face of the financial inducements of the one-hundred- billion dollar drug traffic is the major challenge facing law enforcement agencies throughout the world, but police are only one element in the overall picture. The threat of drug traffick- ing affects every segment of society. The At- torney General of the U.S. said two years ago that Public officials at all levels are being cor- rupted by drug money. The Director of the FBI warned that, During this year, (1983) we have seen the corrupting influence drug money - and I mean big drug money - has had on local police, on judges and even federal of- ficials. There is no longer any question that drug- related corruption of public officials, including police at all levels, is the major challenge to the integrity of law enforcement agencies in many places in the world today. There is no question that many agencies have been corrupted by the bribery and other inducements proferred by drug traffickers. But the maintenance of police agency integrity in the face of the massive cor- ruption of entire segments of society cannot be addressed without reference to what must be done about the total impact on society of the drug traffic. It does little good to assert that a police agency takes swift action against corrupt of- 42 ficers when in the community served by that agency there is a policy of avoiding certain areas, certain airstrips, certain dockyards, and specific places in the community at certain times. The individual officers may never act in a corrupt way, but the agency, nevertheless, has been corrupted. And for an individual of- ficer to do otherwise in certain circumstances might endanger his life. Those in law enforcement have long under- stood that limitations on police activity established by high-level public officials are sometimes dangerous to question, but many have, at considerable risk, done so. The drug traffic, however, has made challenging policy a much more serious step. To whom would a Bahamian police officer report a suspicious drug deal, in light of the ac- cusations made against the prime minister of that country regarding his connections with Robert Vesco and the international drug traf- fic? How secure could a deputy sheriff in Henry County, Georgia feel if he suspected that the county sheriff, county judge and police chief were involved in drug dealing and he wanted to report it? In fact, all three were indicted for drug trafficking charges by federal authorities. This is not to excuse the honest law enforce- ment officer from his duty to take action. It is, however, an assertion that maintaining police integrity amid widespread corruption of other

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