Corruption in the Law Enforcement System in Western Australia - Assignment Example

Corruption in the Law Enforcement System in Western Australia: Uncovering Hidden Relationships, Roles and Functions. Name University Introduction Law enforcement sector in western Australia has been faced with corruption for a long time. Worldwide, the same scenario has been experienced in the law enforcement agencies with police officers in eighty-six countries being charged with corruption (Aldous, 2014). Transparency International has termed the police sector to be the fourth most corrupt public institution. As indicated by World Bank, twenty-three countries have their police officers being the cause of impoverishment and harm for the citizens (Basir et al, 2016). This retrospect paper seeks to establish the forms of corruption within western Australian police force while assessing the implications of the endemic to the Australian society at large. Literature Review Kennedy Royal Commission in western Australia conducted a study and revealed that the police force in Australia has been affected by corruption to a large extend (Buttle, et al, 2015) This corruption has been linked with the rate of crime experienced in the region. Transparency international noted that the corruption in the police force has been attributed to the proximity police officers have with the criminals in that, working close to the criminals and corrupt members of the society impacts the way the officers view corruption and they easily get lured into it without realizing it (Doig & Theobald, 2013). As discussed by Doig & Theobald, 2013, one form of corruption that has been known to take place in Australia is corruption associated with authority. In this form of corruption, the officers engage in self-serving activities while hiding under the mask of authority. In western Australia, officers have been reported to confiscate drugs like Methyl amphetamine (meth) and reselling them later (Dubois, 2013). Evans, 2014 poses that, another form of corruption known to be taking place in western Australia is opportunistic theft. Under this form of corruption, the officers take advantage of the situations, for example, instead of arresting a criminal, they take bribes and let the criminal get away with the pretext that the criminal escaped (Forsythe, 2012). Terence Lewis is a good example of an officer who has been recorded to participate in this form of corruption by accepting bribes from criminals and then help cover it up. Another officer, jack Herbert, a London national operating in Australia, had a clean record while in London. When he was moved to Australia and given the duty of money control in police force of Queensland, he saw a better chance to receive bribes which later led to his apprehension. In a discussion by Gebel, 2012, the behavior by Herbert is an implication that he participated in corruption because he had the chance to and he took it. Protection of illegal activities is closely related to the above forms of corruption. in this dimension, the officers receive bribes and instead of conducting investigations into incidents, they turn a blind eye to the crime (Lee et al, 2013). In western Australia, the officers have been reported to cover up accidents by letting offenders get away without making arrests. Other incidents reported include the covering up of fraud in the employees benefits after being bribed by employers and therefore investigations into such matters is not conducted as required (Lee et al, 2013). In New South Wales, the corruption in police force has been linked with the organized crime taking place in the region (McAllister, 2014) As a matter of fact, the officers in the region are said to be taking bribes in order to make evidence disappear or plant evidence. These acts allow criminals to conduct their criminal activities without being subjected to punishments they deserve. Trevor Haken, a police officer in new south wales, has been reported to hide vital evidence that was needed for conviction of criminals and also allowing the criminal certain liberty to conduct crimes during specific hours (McAllister, 2014) Five hundred and fifty officers in Victoria, in 1998 were charged after doctoring security hardware evidence (Paoli, 2014). Similarly, officer also have been known to commit crimes in the form of payback in cases where their Pellow officers were shot in combat and therefore, instead of following the right course of action to apprehend the criminals, they hire other gangs to do the dirty work for them (Merrington et al, 2014). Rationale for the Research Due to the rising cases of corruption in western Australia, it is necessary to conduct a research into the causes of corruption in the police force and at the same time establish the implications of the corruption. As discussed in the previous studies, it has been noted that there are various factors contributing to the rising levels of corruption in the police force. Similarly, the regions known to have high levels of corruption in Western Australia are the same areas with escalating levels of organized crime (Merrington et al, 2014). Due to this, it therefore becomes necessary to conduct studies that will bring fourth these facts and suggest means of mitigating the menace. Research Design Method The research is to involve examining of data from various sources like reports from Anti-Corruption Commission, World Bank, Human Rights Commission among others which have conducted research into the police corruption. This data will be aimed at providing information to the relationship existing between the rising corruption in the police officers and the rate of crime rate in Western Australia and also the role the government is playing in regulation of the menace (Gebel, 2012). The study will also involve surveys involving questionnaire completion to determine if the officers have other jobs and their net worth which will aide in establishing the relationship between their net worth and their pay assuming they hold no other jobs. Participants The study requires government publications that are found in the government databases and also reports from non-governmental organizations which have to be accessed after consent from the relevant authorities. The filling of the questionnaire requires between 50 and 80 respondents and the results to be confidential so as to ensure the anonymity of the respondents. Materials The biographical data, net pay and profiles of individual officers will be analyzed. This will be aimed at establishing the link between what the officers earn and their net worth which, if inconsistent, the officer is liable for probing in case they hold no other jobs. Data Analysis Excel spreadsheet will be used for recording of numerical data which will then make it simpler for tabulation and analysis using SPSS. The relationship between the crime rate and police corruption will be established after conducting canonical correlation analysis which will assume that errors are special cases. Crime incidences will be recorded as outcomes while the salaries for the officers will be used as the predictors in the canonical analysis. Should the result indicate that the net worth of the officers is more than what their savings is expected to be, then the conclusion would be that they are corrupt and at the same time, the incidences of crime being more in regions where the officers are corrupt is an indicator that the corruption encourages crime (Doig & Theobald, 2013). Implications and Limitations of the Research In the Australian police sector, corruption is widespread. Basing on the previous researches and the results from them, it is expected that the causes of corruption like self- interest and proximity to corrupt society will be proven (McAllister, 2014). Moreover, the need by the officers to be recognized as part of the wealthy members of the society makes them become corrupt (Merrington et al, 2014). Regarding the case of Herbert, it will also be expected that the officers participate in corruption due to the positions they hold which allows them to do so. Besides, considering the case of Haken, it is expected that crime rate in areas where police officers are more corrupt is high considering that the officers aid in the crime organizing (Paoli,.2014). The research involves a vital section of the society in western Australia and therefore it is bound to face many limitations during collection of data (Lee et al, 2013). For instance, the society may not be ready to give evidence that they consider will lead to implicating their police officers as corrupt. For example, those who have given bribes to officers cannot admit doing so for the fear that they might also be implicated and likelihood of imprisonment (Evans, 2014). Another limitation will be experienced in terms of the validity of the data collected. In this case, the government many give incomplete information since they prefer not to sell out their country’s secrets which can later be used by foreign forces in a different way (Forsythe, 2012). In the same way, the information collected via questionnaire is likely to be altered since the respondents may have personal vendetta against the police force and therefore give information which portrays the officers as corrupt more that the real situation. References Aldous, C. (2014). The police in occupation Japan: Control, corruption and resistance to reform. London: Routledge. Basir, S. M., Mohammadi, M. N. S., & Sobatian, E. (2016). Analysis of Drug Trafficking and Corruption Nexus in Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Region. Asian Social Science, 12(4), 53. Buttle, J. W., Davies, S. G., & Meliala, A. E. (2015). A cultural constraints theory of police corruption: Understanding the persistence of police corruption in contemporary Indonesia. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology. Doi:10.1177/0004865815573875 Doig, A., & Theobald, R. (2013). Corruption and democratisation. London: Routledge. Dubois, P. (2013). Litigator's Role in the World Bank's Fight Against Fraud and Corruption. Litigation, 39(1), 38 Evans, R. (2014). ‘The police are rottenly corrupt’: Policing, scandal, and the regulation of illegal betting in Depression-era Sydney. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 48(4), 572-587 Forsythe, D. P. (2012). Human rights in international relations (3rd ed.). UK: Cambridge University Press. Gebel, A. C. (2012). Human nature and morality in the anti‐corruption discourse of transparency international. Public Administration and Development, 32(1), 109-128. Lee, H., Lim, H., Moore, D. D., & Kim, J. (2013). How police organizational structure correlates with frontline officers’ attitudes toward corruption: A multilevel model. Police Practice and Research, 14(5), 386-401. McAllister, I. (2014). Corruption and confidence in Australian political institutions. Australian Journal of Political Science, 49(2), 174-185. Merrington, S., Lauchs, M. A., Bell, P., & Keast, R. L. (2014). An exploratory study of noble cause corruption: the Wood Royal Commission, New South Wales, Australia, 1994- 1997. International Journal of Management and Administrative Sciences, 2(4), 18-29. Paoli, L. (2014). The Oxford handbook of organized crime. USA: Oxford University Press Read More