NCJ Number
110010
Date Published
1988
Length
471 pages
Annotation
This text examines the identification, investigation, and prosecution of public corruption at all levels of Government.
Abstract
Typical patterns of corruption and approaches to them are described, including judicial, law enforcement, regulatory agency, legislative, and narcotics-related corruption. Election and conflicts of interest crimes also are considered. Selected tactics and strategies in investigation and prosecution of official corruption are described. These include undercover operations, use of informants and cooperative witnesses, electronic surveillance, financial audits, polygraphy, grand juries, and overt investigations. The prosecutor's role in charging, during the trial, and in sentencing advocacy is discussed. Common defenses used in official corruption cases and ways to counter them also are considered. Guidelines for media relations are provided. Approaches to organizing a public corruption investigation and prosecution unit in larger and smaller U.S. Attorney's Districts are described, and Federal Bureau of Investigation policy on corruption investigations is outlined. Appendixes provide discussions of statutes applicable to corruption cases (e.g., mail and wire fraud, perjury, tax evasion, bribery, conspiracy, conflict of interest) and sample indictments. For individual articles, see NCJ 110012-110033.