Introduction
Corruption is the definition of the fraudulent or dishonest conduct by an individual which is primarily characterized by bribery. That is whereby an organization or an individual who is in a position of authority acquires a particular benefit for their private gain. The benefit is received from a party with whom the party collaborates with so that they can have a specific advantage, illegally. For example, corruption might be in the form of police officers receiving money from a criminal so that their offence can be waived. The corruption has the effect of allowing illegal activity to prevail at the expense of what is legal. Corruption is prevalent in most sectors of the economy; whereby there is the transfer of benefits; illegally; for the benefit to some parties in return. Thus, in the long run, what prevails is wrongdoing; but is encouraged because of the benefits that corruption promises some few parties in return. Therefore, it is evident that corruption is a problem which threatens the possibility of effective community relations. However, it can be addressed in various ways; by the implementation of multiple measures.
Police Corruption
First and foremost, police corruption threatens the possibility of effective community relations by reducing the degree of trust that the general public has in them. That is because of the fact that the public will associate the police with having ill financial motives taking priority over active service. When the police have minimal cases of corruption, they base their operations on the core interests of the society (Lee-Jones, 2018). However, when they are motivated by corruption, then they end up having their selfish interests taking priority over the general welfare of society. For example, a police officer will be more likely to let a criminal go free when they receive a bribe. The criminal will be released back to the society; where there is the possibility of committing more crimes; hence create an inconvenience to the community. When such an occurrence happens, and it becomes public knowledge, the faith of the people in police reduces. Thus, people will trust other avenues to address their plight and not the police. For example, in Indonesia, corruption among the police is popularly known as “cleansing the crocodile” (Quah, 2019). That is because in most cases, crocodiles are harmful to human beings, and when an opportunity comes, the crocodile has to be killed so that the welfare of the general community is protected. However, in this case in Indonesia, he crocodile; which signifies criminals, is cleansed instead of killing it. As a result of not getting rid of the “crocodile”, it comes back to haunt the society and has various devastating effects in the long run.
The problem of corruption among the police has the other effect of enhancing selective enforcement of law and order. The impact that corruption has in society is that the police will prefer to serve the people that advance their corruption interests. The selective enforcement in most cases is in the form of cover-ups; where the police prefer to leave some criminal or civil cases unattended to. That is because the parties responsible for the misconduct have enough resources which they use to get their way out of the situation for which they would have usually been punished for. Shoddy investigations are the other way through which corruption is manifested in police service; whereby investigations are undertaken with a pre-determined outcome meant to conceal ill practices. For example, in a community where there are poor people and people with adequate resources, corruption leads to selective services. For example, the police will be ready to offer protection to the rich because they are more willing to bribe them for the service (Andvig & Fjeldstad, 2008). That has the effect of compromising the probable benefits that the poor individuals gain from the police service. Hence, in the long run, effective police-community relations are hindered.
Effective police-community relations are hindered by corruption, also, as a result of the low levels of trust that the community has in the police service. When the police service is characterized by corruption, illegal material gains take priority to the active service delivery in the community. For example, the police will seek to address problems where there is the probability of getting bribes, as opposed to those issues where bribery is unlikely. Thus, some issues in society will remain unsolved; because of the lack of material gains that is probable for the police service. For example, the police will prefer to solve cases which have a significant monetary value attached, as opposed to those which have low cost, hence the low probability of getting any incentives. In communities, criminal cases will take priority to civil cases, because of the high likelihood that the criminal cases will lead to more gains by the police officers attached to them. In the long run, the community will be in a situation where they may prefer to explore other avenues to address the issues they face. Thus, this will lead to ineffective police-community relations.
As a result of the ineffective community-police relations, various interventions can be undertaken by the relevant authorities to make sure corruption is addressed. First, is the institution of stringent regulations that are meant to control the conduct of the police so that they do not become corrupt in their behaviour (Punch, 2013). Through a code of ethics, or code of conduct, the corruption among the police can be adequately addressed. That is because it will spell out the consequences of any form of fraud that is perpetuated by the police in any community. The enforcement of the code of ethics is the other dimension that will need to be addressed; whereby the regulatory authorities will be given more powers to prosecute any offenders regarding corruption. As a result of the measures, there will be a reduction in the cases of corruption. Thus, it will lead to better service delivery; hence improve the police-community relation situation. That is because the faith and trust of the people in police will be restored. People will be less willing to commit crimes, because they will be held accountable for their actions, with no easy way out. Thus, the welfare of the community will greatly improve too, hence which is an added advantage to the better relations with the police.
Low Wages
One of the reasons for the high rate of corruption among the police is the low wages that they are paid for their services. The police, as a result of the low payments, are not able to afford the goods and services they would like to have. Thus, to cover the gap between what they have and what they do not, they resort to corrupt practices so that they can earn some extra money. That can be solved through better remuneration of the police; which will enable them to afford better commodities. That will reduce the motivation that they have to engage in corrupt activities. As a result of lower rates of corruption, they will serve to put the police in a better financial position, which will reduce their urge to get more money through illegal means. For example, in Singapore, corruption among the police was a menace. The services they provided were at their lowest in terms of their quality (Caldero & Crank, 2010). There was a series of consultative meetings, and salary increment was proposed as one of the interventions to help curb the issue of corruption. Through the established Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), the welfare of the police was improved; which saw a drastic decrease in corruption cases in the country. Thus, through such an intervention, community-police relations can be significantly improved.
Another highly effective way of combating corruption among the police is the institution of policy reforms in the police service. That is because most of the procedures involving the police have the effect of encouraging corrupt practices. After a study of the loopholes in the service that act as a breeding ground for corrupt practices, institutional changes can be implemented. For example, in 2004, Georgia had a new look of authority under Mikheil Saakashvili as the president. One of his motives was to streamline the operations by the police service. As a result, there was a series of institutional changes that had various effects. First, doing away with cartels in traffic and drug cases was the primary undertaking. That is because most cases are in drugs and transport (Lee-Jones, 2018). Thus, there was a new power and reporting structure, and new people put in charge. There was a series of dismissals, and transfers to other state departments; so that there was fresh blood; to help combat corruption in the police service. There was a shirt of mandate and the elimination of various agencies; which were the nerve center for corrupt practices previously. There were also multiple changes in the police jurisdiction and coupled with training, development and different personnel policy. That had the effect of changing the policy framework. Targeting the highly corrupt police departments had the effect of enhancing public trust in their services after a short time. Thus, such an intervention can help combat corruption; hence improve community-police relations.
Use of Technology
The use of technology is the other way through which corruption among the police is through the use of various forms of technology. That is whereby there are multiple types of technology being applied to monitor the activities that are highly associated with corruption among the police. The first option is the use of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV); which will be used in monitoring the activities of the police so that they do not involve themselves in corrupt activities. That is an effective method because it records all the actions of an officer when on duty. The use of body cameras is the other option closely related to the CCTVs in terms of their functioning. They record all the activities that the police are engaging in; hence helping to keep them in check by not getting involved in corrupt practices. In-car video systems are the other example of the use of technology to reduce the cases of corruption among the police; which works by recording information about a car; so that it cannot be tampered with, hence reduce the probability of occurrence of corrupt activities. In addition to the use of technology, prevention strategies, in terms of effective leadership, can be instituted in the police force. For example, there can be training and development, adopting proactive models, in addition to inspection and discipline. When all these methods are used together, they can have a tremendously positive effect on the efforts against corruption.
Corruption in the police service has the effect of compromising their ability to offer quality services. That is because their service delivery is based on their selfish interests and not the welfare of society. Thus, it leads to favoritism of the few individuals in the community who are on the wrong but have material possessions. Furthermore, it cultivates a culture of mistrust for them from the general public. That leads to ineffective relations between the police and the community. That is because the community does not trust the service delivery implemented by the police. However, that can be changed through the implementation of a series of changes. That includes better salaries and working conditions and policy reforms in the police force. The changes will have the effect of improving the relations between the police and the community.
