By: Louise E. Porter and Adam Graycar

Some places have no crime and some have a lot, and thus we study hotspots. Corruption is structured differently to crime, but hotspots still are notable. The difference is that hotspots are not places but clusters of activity. This paper analyses corruption cases from New York City to explore a way of identifying such clusters. Seventy-two cases were coded according to features that represent the elements of the crime triangle: offender and motivation, target and opportunity, and place and ability. Multidimensional scaling revealed three groups of cases, exhibiting different patterns of corrupt activity. Group one involved politicians involved in high value financial corruption. Group two primarily involved supervisors who created opportunities involving procurement and contracts. Group three involved inspectors, particularly in the infrastructure sector, who were involved with low value bribes to violate regulations. Each is discussed in relation to situational crime prevention principles to develop possible strategies for prevention.

Security Journal, Vol. 29 (3) 423-441.

By Pyman, Mark and Heywood, Paul M.

This open-access book provides accessible insight into how to tackle corruption in organizations and institutions. It explains how to recognize and analyze corruption issues, together with knowledge and advice on how they can be avoided, prevented, or minimized. It also provides a framework through which readers can examine what strategies are available to tackle corruption issues, a rationale for how to prioritize strategies depending on circumstances and context, and guidance on how to critique various options. The book will appeal to professionals and practitioners, as well as academics interested in governance and corruption.

Cham: Springer Nature, 2024. 

By UNODC

The FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games are landmark events on the sporting calendar – historic competitions that are embraced around the world and that showcase the power of sport as an inspiring, unifying force. It is important that they are celebrated, and that they are protected from corruption. Corruption poses a serious threat to sport, putting at risk its capacity to positively contribute to society and lives. Since the Italian football team of Rossi and Zoff triumphed in Madrid and American sprinter Carl Lewis ran into the history books in Los Angeles, sport has undergone far reaching changes. Globalization, a huge influx of money at the top level of professional sport, the rapid growth of legal and illegal betting and marked technological advances have transformed the way sport is played and consumed. These factors have also had a major impact on corruption in sport, both in terms of its scale and its forms. These evolutions have made sports more vulnerable to corruption. Governments, organizations and other stakeholders are taking steps to better protect sport, but in many ways this journey is only in its early stages. This is why, since 2017, the UNODC Programme on Safeguarding Sport from Corruption and Economic Crime has been supporting governments, sports organizations and other stakeholders in their efforts to protect sports against corruption in its many forms. At the forefront of this work is the use of the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument – the United Nations Convention against Corruption. One of the areas in which this work is focused is major sports events. The exposure of corruption surrounding these types of events in recent times needs little reiteration, but it is a reminder of the work to be done and of the importance of strengthening the fight against corruption in sport. This is why detecting and preventing corruption in relation to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, preparation for which is getting under way in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, is critical. First and foremost, these competitions are blue-ribbon events, the integrity of which must be fully protected, but they also represent a timely opportunity to showcase how this anti corruption action can be delivered. They are a chance to demonstrate how UNODC and its partners, and how greater international, regional, national and local cooperation between government authorities, sports organizations, anti corruption agencies and other key stakeholders, can help combat corruption linked to major sports events, and in sport in general. This is the focus of the present report – an examination of the corruption-related risks faced by the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the presentation of a clear road map of how these threats can be met, so that these events, and future ones, are better safeguarded against corruption and that their capacity to bring people together, to forge new relationships and create lasting legacies remains undiminished.

Tenth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.. 2024. 28p.

By United Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)

The exponential growth of the sports business market, extensive media coverage and the global growth of real-time online betting have created an environment in which many individuals and organizations have a direct or indirect financial interest in the course or the outcome of sports competitions. Such an environment can incentives those seeking to exploit sport for illicit gain. The nature of competition manipulation involves criminal acts that are not unique to sport, including fraud and money-laundering as well as the involvement of organized crime. It is viewed as an attractive area to infiltrate because of the opportunity to make large profits with limited risk of detection and sanction as a result of a lack or non-uniformity of laws and regulations around the world.

The implication is that sports organizations cannot deal with this issue on their own and cooperation with law enforcement agencies and criminal justice authorities can only strengthen the fight against competition manipulation. Sport organizations only have the power to take disciplinary measures, while criminal justice authorities and law enforcement agencies have a wider range of measures at their disposal. Because of the complex and transnational nature of competition manipulation, the investigation of offenses can be challenging for a wide range of stakeholders and jurisdictions. Effective and timely investigations play a crucial role in prevention strategies. At the same time, the failure to investigate or ineffective investigations can embolden would-be offenders.

At the national, regional and international levels, there is growing recognition that more needs to be done to tackle these threats effectively, including the allocation of more resources. This has been highlighted at the international level, including by the Conference of the States Parties (the main policymaking body of the United Nations Convention against Corruption), the General Assembly and the Group of 20 Anti-Corruption Working Group, and by the entry into force on 1 September 2019 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, the only legally binding international instrument solely dealing with the issue of competition manipulation.

Vienna, Austria: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2023. 71p.

By Piotr Bakowski

Corruption is a major challenge for the European Union (EU), with all its Member States affected by the problem to some extent. Its scale, however, is difficult to measure both in Europe and elsewhere. Surveys on the perception of corruption among citizens and experts – such as the Global Corruption Barometer and Eurobarometer surveys – are the principal measurement tool. Since the 1990s, countries around the world have joined efforts to address corruption collectively. This has led to the emergence of widely recognised international laws and standards, adopted in particular by the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations. Mechanisms, such as the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), have been developed to monitor implementation of these rules. The EU has gradually adopted laws addressing a range of corruption-related issues. These include a Directive on the Fight against Fraud to the Union's Financial Interests, as well as directives on public procurement, whistleblowers and money-laundering. However, the legal framework thus created remains patchy, the lack of minimum rules on the definition of criminal offense and sanctions in the area of corruption being one important missing element. The EU has also developed its own tool for monitoring anti-corruption efforts – the EU anti-corruption report – only to abandon it after having issued its first edition. Recently, corruption-related issues have been addressed almost exclusively within the EU rule of law framework, a development criticised by various stakeholders, including the European Parliament. The latter has adopted numerous resolutions on corruption addressing, among other things, the impact of COVID 19, as well as systemic challenges to rule of law and deficiencies in the EU's fight against corruption. This briefing updates an earlier one published in 2022, which built on a study by 00 and Sofija Voronova, published in 2017.

Brussels: European Parliament, 2023. 11p.

By Bradley Sauve, Jessica Woodley, Natalie J. Jones, & Seena Akhtari

This literature review provides a comprehensive summary of methods commonly used to prevent corruption in both the private and public sectors and where possible, provides insight on which preventative methods have empirical value and demonstrated effectiveness.

Several key findings were identified, including:

·  Four main approaches to preventing corruption are highlighted. Namely, these include: 1) value-based approaches; 2) compliance-based approaches; 3) risk management approaches; and, 4) awareness and participation-based approaches. Within these four approaches, 18 specific corruption prevention methods are examined and assessed;

·     Findings demonstrate wide variability in the empirical effectiveness of existing prevention methods;

·     Findings demonstrate: 1) the tone at the top principle 2) ethics training programs; 3) top-down auditing; 4) merit-based recruitment; 5) E-government; and, 6) freedom of the press all show signs of empirical effectiveness;

·     The literature demonstrates mixed results regarding: 1) intrinsic motivations; 2) extrinsic motivations; 3) bottom-up monitoring; 4) public awareness campaigns; and, 5) freedom of information laws;

·     The four-eyes principle was the only method found to be effective, with the remaining methods lacking sufficient evidence to support their use; and

·     Analysis of the finding points towards the conclusion that organizations should seek to develop compliance programs and anti-corruption strategies that: 1) involve multiple evidence-based methods; 2) tailor prevention methods to meet the specific needs and context of the organization.

 Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2023. 63p.

By Luca Maiotti and Rashad Abelson

This booklet provides practical answers to frequently asked questions relating to how companies can identify, prevent, mitigate and report on risks of contributing to bribery and corruption through their mineral sourcing. The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (“the Minerals Guidance”) provides due diligence recommendations on how all companies along mineral supply chains, from the miner to the final product manufacturer, should combat bribery and corruption linked to minerals production and trade (OECD, 2016a). The following FAQs do not represent new or additional guidance but aim to explain in simple terms the recommendations already set out in the Minerals Guidance and other OECD standards and best practice. Note, this booklet does not aspire to be an exhaustive stocktaking of all corruption issues and possible mitigation responses. This booklet provides practical answers to frequently asked questions relating to how companies can identify, prevent, mitigate and report on risks of contributing to bribery and corruption through their mineral sourcing. The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (“the Minerals Guidance”) provides due diligence recommendations on how all companies along mineral supply chains, from the miner to the final product manufacturer, should combat bribery and corruption linked to minerals production and trade (OECD, 2016a). The following FAQs do not represent new or additional guidance but aim to explain in simple terms the recommendations already set out in the Minerals Guidance and other OECD standards and best practice. Note, this booklet does not aspire to be an exhaustive stocktaking of all corruption issues and possible mitigation responses. 

Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , OECD,  2021. 32p

By U.K. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS)

Following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, the then Home Secretary commissioned HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) under section 54(2B) of the Police Act 1996 to assess current vetting and counter-corruption capacity and capability in policing across England and Wales. This was to include forces’ ability to detect and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour.

We were asked to consider current vetting (and re-vetting), arrangements for transferees, whistleblowing arrangements, the work of counter-corruption units and, where relevant, wider Professional Standards Departments.

London: HMICFRS, 2022. 163p.

By Sylvia Tidey

A sympathetic examination of the failure of anti-corruption efforts in contemporary Indonesia. 
Combining ethnographic fieldwork in the city of Kupang with an acute historical sensibility, Sylvia Tidey shows how good governance initiatives paradoxically perpetuate civil service corruption while also facilitating the emergence of new forms of it. Importing critical insights from the anthropology of ethics to the burgeoning anthropology of corruption, Tidey exposes enduring developmentalist fallacies that treat corruption as endemic to non-Western subjects. In practice, it is often indistinguishable from the ethics of care and exchange, as Indonesian civil servants make worthwhile lives for themselves and their families. This book will be a vital text for anthropologists and other social scientists, particularly scholars of global studies, development studies, and Southeast Asia.

Chicago: Hau Books (Distributed by the University of Chicago Press, 2022. 250p.

By Luis V. De la Torre

Police officers working in countries plagued by drug trafficking are often offered a choice between "plata o plomo" ("silver or lead"). Given this option, it is not surprising that levels of police corruption are high in these nation-states. Significantly, however, levels of police corruption do differ radically between those countries where the levels of drug production and trafficking are similar. This thesis examines the case of Mexico, where corruption has been historically high and has increased in recent times; and the case of Colombia, where levels of police corruption have been relatively low and might even be said to be on the decline. Specialists in police reform and anticorruption typically look at administrative factors such as ethics, salary levels, the purging of corrupt officials, and the recruiting and training of "clean" officers as essential elements in the prevention of police corruption. While these factors explain some of the differences in levels of corruption, this thesis fills an important gap in the existing literature by moving beyond these conventional explanations. In particular, it introduces a country-specific approach to drug-related police corruption, including factors such as the organizational structure of the police force (centralized or decentralized), the legacy of the "political criminal nexus" in the country concerned, and both the size and "ideology" of the drug trafficking organizations involved.

Monterey, California:. Naval Postgraduate School, 2008. 142p.

Edited by Sanja Kutnjak Ivković and M. R. Haberfeld

This work provides an innovative new look at police ethics, including results from an updated version of the classic Police Integrity Questionnaire, including new social and technological advances. It aims to push the study of police research further, expanding on and testing police integrity theory and methodology, the relationship between community and integrity, and the influence of multiculturalism and globalization on policing and community attitudes.
This work brings together experienced scholars who have used the police integrity theory and the accompanying methodology to measure police integrity in eleven countries, and provide advance and sophisticated explorations of the topic. Organized into three thematic sections, it explores the testing methodology for international comparisons, insights into police-community relations, and explores police subcultures.

Cham: Springer Nature, 2019. 388p.

By Steven V. Gilbert

Police Corruption in the NYPD: From Knapp to Mollen explores how the New York Police Department experienced two major investigations within a quarter of a century. It compares the states of corruption within the NYPD during the Knapp and Mollen commissions, examining why corruption continued and why the revealed ethical breaches became more serious. It also discusses how corruption was enhanced even after accountability and responsibility were assigned to department administration. The book gives in-depth discussions of the Knapp and Mollen reports and relates the history and relevance of efforts to combat corruption and to improve police practices. It uses empirical data from interviews and current NYPD recruit training documents as reference materials in examining police practices. It also identifies failures of leadership that contributed to the systemic ethical degeneration of the NYPD. Police Corruption in the NYPD goes beyond the training of ethics and enforcement by delving into the departmental failures that permit officers to develop from being merely unethical to becoming criminals. By presenting and analyzing theories of corruption from current authorities, it lays a foundation for critical discussion and comparison between commissions as well as current department ethical training and practices

Boca Raton; London; New York: CRC Press, 2016. 176p.

By Seumas Miller

High levels of police corruption have been a persistent historical tendency in police services throughout the world. While the general area of concern in this book is with police corruption and anti-corruption, the focus is on certain key philosophical and ethical issues that arise for police organisations confronting corruption. On the normative account proffered in this book the principal institutional purpose of policing is the protection of legally enshrined moral rights and the principal institutional anti-corruption arrangement is what is referred to as an integrity system. The latter includes oversight bodies with investigative powers and internal affairs departments as well as specific devices such as early warning indicators, professional reporting mechanisms and integrity tests. Key concepts analysed in the book include corruption, noble cause corruption and collective moral responsibility. The key ethical issues analysed include investigative independence, professional reporting, covert operations and integrity tests.

Cham: Springer, 2016. 106p.

By Richard C. Lindberg
In this serious yet entertaining book, historian Richard Carl Lindberg probes unexplored avenues of Chicago history and presents the first in-depth history of the Chicago Police Department in over a century. The book traces the stormy history of the department from the 1850s to the Summerdale Scandal of the near present. Interspersed with the major chapters about the chaotic struggle between reform and the machine are short, intimate vignettes: the Armory Station, a gray, somber fortress that housed some of Chicago's most desperate characters for over thirty years; Francis O'Neill, Chicago's turn-of-the-century police chief who collected Irish folk songs and transcribed them into sheet music; the first fingerprint conviction in Cook County in which a man paid the ultimate price; and a retrospective look at some of the most infamous murder cases of the century and how the police solved them. Lindberg discusses the tie between politics, organized crime, vice, and the police department. He presents a history of Chicago politics and law enforcement in chronological order and recounts pivotal events in Chicago history in the police context.

• More.....

  The book reveals how police corruption in Chicago was the result of the political drag on the department; the pernicious influence of meddling aldermen and vice operatives that prevented the police from carrying out their sworn duties in a forthright manner. Lindberg examines the lack of central authority over the police department; police superintendents were traditionally weak, subservient figures to the mayor, unable, and often unwilling to exercise control over the bureaucracy. Students and scholars of history, criminal justice, Chicago history, and law enforcement will find To Serve and Collect provocative reading.

Westport, CT: Praeger, 1991. 366p.

By Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovic

Despite its suspected prevalence, no comprehensive analysis of police corruption has been published for nearly three decades. Fallen Blue Knights provides a systematic, in-depth analysis of the subject, while also addressing the question of what can be done to ensure successful corruption control. Kutnjak Ivkovi'c argues that the current mechanisms for control--the courts, prosecutors, independent commissions, and the media, as well as the internal control mechanisms within a police agency itself--suffer from severe shortcomings that substantially limit their effectiveness. In this much-needed analysis, Kutnjak Ivkovi'c redefines the roles of major players and develops a novel, comprehensive model of corruption control.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. 256p.

By Lawrence W. Sherman

Presents a study of four police departments in which both honest police officers and citizens were victimized by police corruption. Explores the methods which were used such as surveillance and other covert techniques in order to successfully reform the departments. The cities involved were New York City, Oakland Calif., Newburgh, N.Y.; and a pseudonym for a Midwestern City called Central City in this report.

Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978. 273p.

By Tim Prenzler

While many police officers undertake their work conforming to the highest ethical standards, the fact remains that unethical police conduct continues to be a recurring problem around the world. With examples from a range of jurisdictions, Police Corruption: Preventing Misconduct and Maintaining Integrity examines the causes of police misconduct and explores applied strategies designed to maximize ethical conduct and identify and prevent corruption.

Boca Raton; London; New York: CRC Press, 2009. 240p.

By Kempe Ronald Hope, St.

Much of the literature on police corruption and police reforms is dominated by case studies of societies classified as developed. However, under the influence of globalization, developing societies have become a focal point of scholarly interest and examination. Police Corruption and Police Reforms in Developing Societies provides critical analyses of the extent and nature of police corruption and misconduct in developing societies. It also examines police reform measures that have been implemented or are still necessary to control and mitigate the effects of police corruption in developing societies.

This book offers a comprehensive and authoritative account of the causes and consequences of police corruption. It also relates lessons learned from police reform efforts that have been made in a wide cross section of developing societies spanning several continents.

Boca Raton; London; New York: CRC Press, 248p.

By Maurice Punch

The book portrays police corruption as consisting of many deviant and criminal practices in the context of policing that may change character over time. Corruption is defined in a broad, multifaceted way that has the common thread of abuse of policing authority and the trust of the community. Its most serious forms involve criminal conspiracies that use specialized professional knowledge, contacts, and power to both commit crimes and evade detection. Typologies of corruption are identified, along with the forms of corruption that emerge in diverse policing environments. Also discussed are the pathways officers may take into corruption and their rationalizations for their corrupt and criminal behaviors. The book rejects the overarching portrayal of police corruption as caused by a few individual "bad apples" while promoting the metaphor of "bad orchards," meaning that police corruption stems from corrupting police subcultures and temptations related to institutional failures and the nature of policing. Comparative analyses are made of police corruption, scandal, and reform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. The analyses examine issues of control, accountability, and the new institutions of oversight, such as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for England and Wales, at a time when external oversight of police has become a prominent feature of anticorruption efforts.

Cullompton, Devon, UK: Willan Publishing, 2009. 296p.

Edited by Sanja Kutnjak Ivković and M. R. Haberfeld

This work provides an innovative new look at police ethics, including results from an updated version of the classic Police Integrity Questionnaire, including new social and technological advances. It aims to push the study of police research further, expanding on and testing police integrity theory and methodology, the relationship between community and integrity, and the influence of multiculturalism and globalization on policing and community attitudes.

This work brings together experienced scholars who have used the police integrity theory and the accompanying methodology to measure police integrity in eleven countries, and provide advance and sophisticated explorations of the topic. Organized into three thematic sections, it explores the testing methodology for international comparisons, insights into police-community relations, and explores police subcultures.

Cham: Springer, 2019. 388p.