Chapter Twelve

Benji

Police corruption. It’s when the very people who are supposed to uphold the law, break it. They misuse their power for personal gain. It could be just one officer or a whole group of them. This kind of corruption eats away at public trust, messes up departmental policies, and leads to serious legal violations. It can take many forms, like bribery.

Being a police officer comes with a lot of power and authority. And with that, there are plenty of chances to use it for personal gain. The Knapp Commission, which looked into corruption in the New York City Police Department in the early 1970s, split corrupt officers into two groups: meat-eaters, who actively misuse their power for personal gain, and grass-eaters, who just take the bribes that come their way.

In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is one of the agencies that investigates police corruption. They look into public corruption at all levels—federal, state, and local. This could be any public official, including law enforcement officers.

The FBI doesn’t just investigate public corruption, but also civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. 1983. This could be anything from excessive force to being denied legal counsel or an illegal search. There are many complaints made every year, but only a few result in criminal charges.

Most police departments also have an Internal Affairs division. Their only job is to investigate allegations of misconduct by law enforcement officers.

Some cities even hire independent police auditors to make sure complaints are handled fairly.

Internal Affairs is the part of the police department that investigates misconduct by police officers and other law enforcement staff. Any complaints from the public or other employees should be reported to Internal Affairs.

The results of these investigations are usually kept secret, but police departments take them very seriously. They know that trust with the community is key to their success.

Police misconduct can take many forms. The Department of Justice says that the most common complaint is about the use of excessive force by police officers.

But misconduct can also include theft, false arrest, ignoring medical needs, putting someone in custody despite the risk of harm, or inappropriate sexual behavior. Bribery, financial crimes, and obstruction of justice by law enforcement officials are also reportable offenses.

The FBI’s Public Corruption program focuses on:

Investigating violations of federal law by public officials at all levels of government;

Overseeing investigations of fraud related to federal government procurement, contracts, and federally funded programs;

Fighting public corruption along the nation's borders and points of entry to decrease the country's vulnerability to drug and weapons trafficking, alien smuggling, espionage, and terrorism;

Addressing environmental crime, election fraud, and issues concerning the federal government procurement, contracts, and federally funded programs.

No other law enforcement agency has had the kind of success the FBI has in fighting corruption. This success is largely due to cooperation and coordination from a number of federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.

These partnerships include the Department of Justice, Agency Offices of Inspector General; law enforcement agencies' internal affairs divisions; federal, state and local law enforcement and regulatory investigative agencies; and state and county prosecutor's offices.

And that’s why I found myself standing outside the Chicago Illinois FBI field office, 2111 Roosevelt Road.

The Chicago Division has been committed to protecting its residents and communities from a range of national security and criminal threats for over a century.

It’s hard to know just how widespread police corruption is, since it usually happens in secret and police organizations don’t have much incentive to share information about it. Some people, both police officials and researchers, have argued that in some countries, large scale corruption involving the police not only exists but can even become institutionalized.

And that’s what brought me here.

Officer 2 - “How can I help you, sir?”

Benji - “Benji Ramirez. I have an appointment with SSA Lachie Gendle. He's expecting me.”

Officer 2 - “Thank you, please take a seat.”

Benji - ~And so it begins . . . .~