Police corruption is a form of police misconduct in which law enforcement officers end up breaking their political contract and abuse their power for personal gain. This type of corruption may involve one or a group of officers. Internal police corruption is a challenge to public trust, cohesion of departmental policies, human rights and legal violations involving serious consequences. Police corruption can take many forms, such as bribery.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong was established by Governor Sir Murray MacLehose on 15 February 1974, when Hong Kong was under British rule. Its main aim was to clean up endemic corruption in the many departments of the Hong Kong Government through law enforcement, prevention and community education.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,154 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in each province. The nine Provincial Commissioners report directly to the National Commissioner. The head office is in the Wachthuis Building in Pretoria.
The Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), commonly known as the Scorpions, was a specialised unit of the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa, tasked with investigating and prosecuting high-level and priority crimes including organised crime and corruption. An independent and multidisciplinary unit with a unique methodology which combined investigation, forensic intelligence, and prosecution, the Scorpions were known as an elite unit, and were involved in several extremely high-profile investigations, especially into the Arms Deal and into high-ranking African National Congress (ANC) politicians including Jackie Selebi, Jacob Zuma, and Tony Yengeni.
Corruption in the government of Kenya has a history which spans the era of the founding president Jomo Kenyatta, to Daniel arap Moi's KANU, Mwai Kibaki's PNU government and the current Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party government. In the Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 Kenya is ranked 124th out of 180 countries for corruption, tied with Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, and Pakistan.
Police misconduct refers to inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among some: coerced false confession, intimidation, false arrest, false imprisonment, falsification of evidence, spoliation of evidence, police perjury, witness tampering, police brutality, police corruption, racial profiling, unwarranted surveillance, unwarranted searches, and unwarranted seizure of property.
Crime in South Africa includes all violent and non-violent crimes that take place in the country of South Africa, or otherwise within its jurisdiction. Crime levels have been attributed to poverty, problems with delivery of public services, and wealth disparity. The Institute for Security Studies also highlighted factors beyond poverty and inequality, particularly social stress from uncaring environments in early childhood and subsequent lack of guardianship. South Africa's high crime rates, recidivism and overburdened criminal justice system have been described as a crisis which will require a radical rethink of crime and punishment in young people.
Jacob “Jackie” Sello Selebi was the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service from January 2000 to January 2008, when he was put on extended leave and charged with corruption. He was also a former President of African National Congress Youth League, South African ambassador to the United Nations from 1995 to 1998, and President of Interpol from 2004 to 2008. Selebi was found guilty of corruption on 2 July 2010 and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment on 3 August 2010. However, he was released on medical parole in July 2012, after serving less than a year of his sentence, and lived at home until his death on 23 January 2015.
Corruption in South Africa includes the improper use of public resources for private ends, including bribery and improper favouritism. The 2017 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index assigned South Africa a score of 43 out of 100, ranking South Africa 71 out of 180 countries. There was a marginal improvement by 2020, when South Africa received a score of 44, ranking it 69 out of 180 countries. Nonetheless, this remains below its score of 45 in 2016. Countries with scores below 50 are believed to have serious corruption problems.
Corruption in Thailand is a national issue. Thai law provides criminal penalties for conviction of official corruption. Thailand's 2014 military junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), stated that fighting corruption would be one of its main focus points, a common practice for military dictatorships following Thailand's frequent military coups. Despite the promises, officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity, and the NCPO engaged in corrupt practices itself.
Corruption in Sudan is substantial, as it is considered one of the most corrupt nations in the world. On Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index, Sudan ranked 177th out of 183 countries. On the 2010 World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, on one hundred point scale, it scored in the single digits in every category, including 0.9 for political stability, 6.2 for rule of law, 7.2 for regulatory quality, 6.7 for government effectiveness, and 4.3 for control of corruption. It ranked 174th in the 2013 Corruption Perception Index. In 2011 Freedom House named Sudan as one of the worst nations for human rights.
The Hawks are the South African Police Services' Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) which targets organised crime, economic crime, corruption, and other serious crime referred to it by the President or the another division of the South African Police Service (SAPS) set up by the Zuma administration in 2008. The DPCI replaced the Scorpions which was independent of the South African Police Service.
Corruption is endemic at every level of Liberian society, making Liberia one of the most politically corrupt nations in the world. As such, corruption is not specifically a punishable crime under Liberian law, which further exacerbates the nature of corruption present in the country. When President Sirleaf took office in 2006, she announced that corruption was “the major public enemy.”
Corruption in Singapore is generally perceived as one of the lowest in the world. Cases are mostly handled by the Singapore Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), a government agency in Singapore that investigates and prosecutes corruption in the public and private sectors. According to a Transparency International survey, an overwhelming majority of people in Singapore do not hear cases of corruption by public officials or institutions through media in their lifetime. As of 2020, Singapore is ranked as the fourth least corrupt country in the world and the most transparent in Asia.
Khomotso Johannes Phahlane is the former acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), serving from October 2015 to June 2017. He was appointed after the suspension of Riah Phiyega. He was previously head of the SAPS Forensic Service from 2012 to 2015.
Corruption in Bolivia is a major problem that has been called an accepted part of life in the country. It can be found at all levels of Bolivian society. Citizens of the country perceive the judiciary, police and public administration generally as the country's most corrupt. Corruption is also widespread among officials who are supposed to control the illegal drug trade and among those working in and with extractive industries.
Zandile Ruth Thelma Gumede is a South African who has been serving as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since 2020. She served as the Executive Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality from 2016 until 2019. Gumede is a member of the African National Congress.
Republic Bharat or R. Bharat is a free-to-air Indian far-right Hindi-language news channel, launched on 2 February 2019. Arnab Goswami is the owner and editor-in-chief of Republic Bharat. It is also available on DD Free Dish. It is a sister channel of Republic World which broadcasts news primarily in English.
Param Bir Singh is an Indian police officer in the 1988 batch Indian Police Service (IPS). He is the Director General (DG) of Maharashtra Home Guard, and a former Police Commissioner of Mumbai. Following the filing of extortion cases against him, he was untraceable, and was declared as absconding by a Mumbai magistrate Court. Singh was suspended from his present position as head of home guard because of his absence by the government of Maharashtra.
The murder of Charl Kinnear occurred at around 15:03 SAST on 18 September 2020 as he was leaving his home in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town, South Africa. He was shot multiple times in the upper body whilst seated in the driver's seat of his white Toyota Corolla resulting in his death. Kinnear was a lieutenant colonel in the South Africa Police Service (SAPS) and was the section commander for the Western Cape anti-gang unit. Former rugby player Zane Kilian was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with Kinnear's murder. Kinnear's mobile phone had been illegally tracked 2,116 times by Kilian before his murder using a specialised mobile phone tracking device and software.
