NCJ Number
193781
Date Published
2001
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the 150-year history of corruption scandals in the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
Abstract
Since its founding in 1844, corruption scandals in the NYPD have warranted commission investigations approximately every 20 years, beginning with the Lexow Committee in 1894, followed by the Curran Committee in 1914, the Seabury Commission in 1932, the Helfand Commission in 1949, the Knapp Commission in 1970, and the Mollen Commission in 1993. Up until the 1980's, corruption always involved some type of vice or extortion that consisted of payments to officers to avoid being arrested or prosecuted for a violation or a crime. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, corruption that involved narcotics emerged. Officers realized that the relatively small amounts of money obtained from shakedowns were nothing compared to the hundreds or thousands of dollars available from narcotics shakedowns. The temptation of large amounts of money available from drug trafficking is the challenge currently facing the NYPD. There are several possible solutions to the problem. Creating more supervisory positions would increase the oversight of subordinate officers. Hiring practices that screen out all but the best candidates would increase the pool of officers with good character. Higher salaries for officers is another means of reducing the attraction of drug money; and increased internal and/or external monitoring of the police would increase the awareness of tempted officers of the likelihood that corrupt behavior would be detected and severely punished. 7 references and 1 figure