Protector or predator? - Institute for Security Studies
Protector or predator? - Institute for Security Studies
Protector or predator? - Institute for Security Studies
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<strong>Protect<strong>or</strong></strong> <strong>or</strong> predat<strong>or</strong>?<br />
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Large sums of money may immediately be available to police officials f<strong>or</strong> protecting<br />
<strong>or</strong> not enf<strong>or</strong>cing the law against those involved 58<br />
Much of the writing about police c<strong>or</strong>ruption in the US has focused on the extent<br />
to which ‘politics, rather than professional principles, dominated most police<br />
departments throughout the country’ in the early part of the 20th century. 59<br />
The result was that police officers were often directed by their superi<strong>or</strong>s not to<br />
investigate the criminal activities of influential politicians who were supp<strong>or</strong>tive<br />
of the particular police agency. Such cover-ups led to a situation whereby these<br />
same politicians would also protect seni<strong>or</strong> police officials and their sub<strong>or</strong>dinates<br />
involved in systemic c<strong>or</strong>ruption. Thus, the political culture at the time allowed<br />
f<strong>or</strong> large-scale police c<strong>or</strong>ruption to flourish in several US cities.<br />
Similar trends have become evident in South Africa’s criminal justice sect<strong>or</strong><br />
in recent years. There are many examples of this:<br />
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The appointments of career politicians as the SAPS National Commissioners<br />
as opposed to experienced police professionals<br />
F<strong>or</strong>mer president Thabo Mbeki’s protection of Commissioner Selebi in the face<br />
of hard evidence that he was involved in c<strong>or</strong>ruption 60<br />
Accusations of political interference in the National Prosecuting Auth<strong>or</strong>ity’s<br />
c<strong>or</strong>ruption case against Jacob Zuma in 2008 and the subsequent closing of<br />
the Direct<strong>or</strong>ate of Special Operations (known as the ‘Sc<strong>or</strong>pions’), which had<br />
investigated him and his allies<br />
The 2009 conviction of a seni<strong>or</strong> police commander f<strong>or</strong> meddling with a blood<br />
sample drawn from ANC heavyweight Tony Yengeni, who was caught driving<br />
under the influence of alcohol 61<br />
This chapter has introduced the concept of c<strong>or</strong>ruption in the police occupational<br />
environment. Drawing on supp<strong>or</strong>tive literature, it has argued that police c<strong>or</strong>ruption<br />
and deviance should be understood as products of an <strong>or</strong>ganisation and its<br />
culture, rather than simply as the actions of deviant <strong>or</strong> criminal individuals.<br />
18<br />
<strong>Institute</strong> f<strong>or</strong> <strong>Security</strong> <strong>Studies</strong>
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