NCJ Number
123733
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: (1990) Pages: 85-98
Date Published
1990
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This project studies drug-related police corruption in 13 law enforcement agencies nationwide through the use of interviews and a content analysis of documents related to drug-corruption investigations.
Abstract
Findings indicate that there are two distinct types of drug corruption. Type 1, characterized as a "Search for Illegitimate Goals," is the traditionally conceptualized corruption involving bribery, theft, and similar activities. It is characterized by two behavioral motivations, defined as a "user-driver cycle" and a "profit-driven cycle." Type 2 is labeled "In Search of Legitimate Goals" and involves corruption of the criminal justice process, in which officers violate criminal procedure, perjure themselves, and plant evidence as means to facilitate drug-law enforcement. Despite the significant differences in the corruption types, eight common factors were found to permeate both types. These were: opportunity structure, abrogation of trust, rationalization, the invulnerability factor, Blue Code of Secrecy, market forces of the illicit drug trade, inadequate organizational controls, and persistence of the corruption patterns. 2 tables, 8 notes, 22 references. (Author abstract)