REPORTS OF THE COURSEGROUP 1
EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF THE POLICE SYSTEM
Chairperson

Mr. Laurean M. Tibasana(Tanzania)

Co-Chairperson

Mr. Marcos Aurélio Vitoriano Matias(Brazil)Rapporteur

Mr. Maninder Singh Sandhu(India)Co-Rapporteur

Mr. Rosendo Armando Vásquez Bonilla(El Salvador)

Advisers

Professor Yasuhiro Tanabe(Japan)Professor Hiroshi Tsutomi(Japan)Professor Mikiko Kakihara(Japan)I. INTRODUCTION
The eleventh session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will, among othermatters, discuss the question of “Criminal Justice Reform”. It is thus an appropriate moment to discuss police systems,
their effectiveness in achieving the goals for which they are established, the problems faced by the various police systemsof the world and the ways and means to resolve those problems. Police institutions under whatever form or organization
or administration play an important role in the overall criminal justice system of any country. In tune with the moment
and the times they have to undergo reforms with the object of rendering them more efficient and effective in the deliveryof their services to the people who look upon them to do so.
This is a report of a general discussion on effective police systems. In the discussion we examined selected police
systems of the world, addressed their effectiveness in the achievement of their objectives, and the problems they encounter
which may militate against the attainment of their goals. Finally we examined a number of measures, which we suggest
may be adopted to resolve the perceived as well as existing problems in order to render the police systems more effective
and efficient.
We should mention here that this paper does not have the purpose of offering a termination of the discussion on thesubject, and that it is related to the reality of the involved countries, the analysis presented herewith may not represent
the reality of other countries.
The analyses presented within this paper is oriented and pertaining to the existing situation in the involved countries,
therefore, when taking into consideration the conclusions and recommendations pointed out such circumstances should
be taken into account.
For purposes of discussion and clarity of approach the police systems of the countries under review have beenclassified into three types or systems, namely:
A. Centralized or National Police Systems
B. Semi-centralized (Dual Control) Police Systems, and
C. Decentralized Police Systems.
This classification however has been adopted for purposes of discussion only. It is not an exclusive or rigidclassification for, depending on the vision and perspective of a country, one police system may overlap or fall into morethan one classification or be a mixture of two or more systems. We hasten to point out, for avoidance of doubt that thisclassification is in no way an indicator of the preference of the participants as to any one policing system, since the choiceof a policing system is a prerogative of the country concerned and a sovereign decision.
II. DEFINITIONS
The following terms used in this report shall have the meanings ascribed to them as below.

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A. Centralized Police System — Shall mean a police system in which there is a national police agency or police
institution which is centrally commanded and controlled through a vertical chain of command and such police institution
has unlimited jurisdiction throughout the territory of the country.
B. Semi-Centralized Police System — Means a police system in a federal system of government or similar
constitutional arrangement where the responsibility for law and order is vested in the governments of the component
states, provinces or prefectures and the control of the police agencies in the states, provinces or prefectures vests in both
the Federal (Central) government as well as the governments of the component states, provinces or prefectures irrespectiveof the extent and measure of control exercised by either organ.
C. Decentralized Police System — Means a police system in a federal, union or similar form of political orconstitutional arrangement, where responsibility for law and order and consequently the operational control, management,
and superintendence of the police agencies or institutions is the exclusive responsibility of the governments of the states
or provinces; components of the federal or union arrangement as the case may be.
III. CLASSIFICATION OF THE POLICE SYSTEMSNations have varying police systems. Some countries like Chile, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal,
Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Thailand and Uganda have centrally controlled or national police systems. Generally suchcountries are characterized by a single designated national police chief who has overall command, superintendence andmanagement of the national police agency. Some countries like Brazil and Japan have Semi-centralized or dually controlled
police systems. Generally in such countries national bodies in the form of Public Safety commissions or similar form ofdesignation exercise indirect powers of supervision over police agencies in the states or prefectures through appointments
and the formulation of policies while the operational command and control remains the responsibility of the states,
prefectures or provinces. Some countries like India and Pakistan have decentralized police systems. In such countries
law and order is a state subject and consequently the operational command and control of the police agencies in the statesis the exclusive responsibility of the state governments concerned while the role of the central (national) government islimited to financial support only.
A. Countries With a Centralized (National) Police System
1. Chile
The Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile states that The Forces of Order and Public Security comprise the
Carabineros de Chile and Policia de Investigaciones. Accordingly the Chilean police forces are entrusted with law
enforcement, public order and internal security throughout the country. The Forces of Order and Public Security fallunder the Ministry of National Defence.
2. El Salvador
According to the Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador the responsibility to maintain public security and internal
peace throughout the country is assigned to the Civil National Police (Policia Nacional Civil — PNC), which is headed
by a General Director, appointed by the President of the Republic.
For the past ten years, due to peace agreements signed after the war the PNC has been under several ministries(Ministry of Interior and Public Security, Ministry of Public Security and by a recent reorganization the newly created
Ministry of Government).
3. Indonesia
The national police force of Indonesia comes under the office of the President. It is headed by the Chief of Indonesian
National Police with the rank of General, who is assisted by subordinate commanders deployed in formations and units
throughout the country and answerable to the Police General.
4. Kenya
The Kenya Police Force comes under the President’s office. It has jurisdiction throughout the whole country and isheaded by the Commissioner of Police, assisted by three Senior Deputy Commissioners responsible for Administration,
the Criminal Investigation Department and the General Service Unit.

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5. Malaysia
The National Police Force of Malaysia comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is headed by the Inspector
General of Police and has jurisdiction throughout the country.
6. Nepal
The Kingdom of Nepal’s National Police Force comes under the Minister of Home Affairs. The Inspector Generalof Police heads it. The commanders of formation and units throughout the country are responsible to the Inspector Generalof Police.
7. Papua New Guinea
The National Police Force of Papua New Guinea comes under the Minister for Police. It is headed by the Commissionerof Police. The PNG Police Force has jurisdiction throughout the country and the unit and formation commanders deployedthroughout the country are answerable to the Commissioner of Police.
8. St. Christopher and Nevis
The National Police Force of St. Christopher and Nevis comes under the Ministry of National Security, which is inturn under the Prime Minister. The Police Force is headed by the Commissioner of Police and has jurisdiction throughout
the country. Subordinate commanders in charge of formations or units throughout the country are answerable to theCommissioner.
9. Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania has a national police force—the Tanzania Police Force, which has jurisdiction inboth parts of the Union namely mainland Tanzania and the islands of Zanzibar. The police force comes under the Ministryof Home Affairs. It is headed by the Inspector General of Police assisted by four Commissioners, one of whom is
responsible for the formations and units of the police force deployed on the isles of Zanzibar and is answerable to theInspector General.
10. Thailand
The National Police Agency of the Kingdom of Thailand is an independent unit under the office of the Prime Minster.
It has jurisdiction throughout the Kingdom of Thailand and it is headed by an officer with the rank of Police General who
is assisted by commanders of formations and units deployed throughout the Kingdom and answerable to the General
Command for the proper administration of their respective units and formations.
11. Uganda
The National Police Force of Uganda comes under the Interior Ministry. It has jurisdiction throughout the Republicof Uganda. It is headed by the Inspector General who is assisted by a deputy inspector general and other subordinate
commanders deployed in the formations and units and answerable to the Inspector General for the proper administrationof their respective commands.
B. Countries With a Semi-Centralized (Dual Control) Police System
1. Brazil
The function of policing in Brazil, according to the provision given by the Federal Constitution, is distributed among
the Union Government and the Federal States. The Constitution assigns responsibility for public safety in their respective
territories to the Federal States. As such each of the 26 Federal States and the Federal District controls two police agencies
namely the Military Police and the Civil Police. The Union Government controls the Federal Police, which among othertasks exercises functions as federal judiciary police. The Union Government is also responsible for the control of
specialized police formations like the Federal Highway Police and the Federal Rail Police. Under the constitutionalarrangement of Brazil the Federal Police under the Union have responsibility for crime with interstate, national orinternational implications e.g. drug trafficking while the police formations under the Federal States and the Federal District
have responsibility for public safety, in general, comprising crime prevention, law enforcement and maintenance of order
within their respective territories and any other crime not under the responsibility of the Union formations.
2. Japan
The best example of a Semi Centralized (dual control) Police System, Japan’s police administration and organization
is an embodiment of two concepts: political neutrality and democratic control; the latter being implemented throughdelegation of authority to local levels. The police organization of Japan comprises the National Public Safety Commission

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under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet office and the National Police Agency. The National Public Safety Commission
issues general guidelines, and appoints the Commissioner General of National police Agency, as well as other senior
officials of the prefectural police organizations. Public Safety and the policing of the prefectures is vested in the respective
prefectures. The National Public Safety Commission however exercises indirect supervisory power over policing activities
in the prefectures through the National Police Agency.
C. Countries With Decentralized Police System
1. India
The Constitution of the Republic of India designates law and order as a state subject. The police agencies in the 28
states are under the control of the respective state governments. However the police force in the 07 Union Territory
Administrations function under the Ministry of Home Affairs of the central government, which also control specialized
investigation agency, the CBI — Central Bureau of Investigation, as well as several central police organizations, which
are often deployed to assist the state police in the event of emergency. The Central Government’s role is restricted to thefinancial support of the states and the issue of general administrative guidelines and policies.
2. Pakistan
Under the Federal Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan police and consequently law and order is aprovincial subject. Each of the four provinces has its own police agency. The provincial police agencies are headed by
an officer with the rank of Inspector General appointed by the provincial government who is answerable to the respective
provincial government for the proper administration of the police agency. The Federal Government’s role in relation to
the provincial police force is limited to the issuing of general policy guidelines while the operational control remains in
the provincial government.
IV. PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED IN RELATION TO THE POLICE SYSTEM
A. Budgetary Problems Affecting Efficiency
Proper recruitment, selection, education and training of officers are important aspects to be considered in respect ofpolicing. Moreover, police officers engaged in police duties under law enforcement agencies require to be supplied withother particular logistic items, such as: equipment, vehicles, weaponry, uniforms and reasonable pay, etc.
There are two stages in a police officer’s career: First, when they are training in a police academy or school; and,second, the life that starts when they incorporate and go to work dealing with crime. In both of these cases, there areinsufficient budgetary appropriations by governments or institutions in charge.
Even when most of its needs are satisfactorily supplied, the budget is not enough for the police to provide the welfare
conditions for their families, as for good education, security and access to health, a good pay, good pension and adequate
rest time.
If these needs are fulfilled we could expect optimum efficiency from the entire law enforcement organ.
B. Lack of Training
1. Qualification
As a matter of fact, many police officers are never involved in a crisis situation, most of them never fire a gun in theline of duty. Much of their time is spent in routine activities related to social services, such as attending domestic brawls,
etc, as some research studies have indicated.
Many police agencies do not focus their training on important qualities, because they assume their personnel havedeveloped these skills prior to joining the agency. For instance, many law enforcement officers have deficient skills in
relation to tact, physical courage, emotional stability, impartiality and honesty.
2. Education
What level of education is most appropriate for a new entrant to join a police agency is a sensitive and controversial
issue.

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Although, it might be assumed that higher education is important, that is not necessarily the case as research studies
have indicated. However, education increases police officers’ sensitivity and gives additional qualities to face problems
on duty.
3. Training
In fact, many fields of training focused on technical courses are wasted because they are neglected. In other cases
many police officers are trained on particular law enforcement and other professional skills but they are not being deployed
to areas that require and can use their new skills and knowledge.
C. Lack of Cooperation
In many cases, there is a lack of cooperation between police agencies or between departments within a same agency
due to;1. Creation of too much bureaucracy in police organizations because each section perceives itself as better than the other,
2. Lack of technology to share information, especially when it needs scientific methods to collect, collate official dataand put it to appropriate use. That is why collecting official data and using them is difficult,
3. They think that developing secrecy is one of their most effective sources of power and to share such information
would weaken their power base.
D. Corruption
In fact, most misbehaviour by police officers does not differ significantly from the normal citizens’ conduct, however,people expect much more from police; and many people think that police corruption is pervasive within the organization.
It is impossible to deny that corruption exists among police agencies at various levels of magnitude. Many police officers
are subjected to such strong pressures to which they succumb and become corrupt. In some countries corruption ischaracterized by the following factors;
1. Acts of corruption are not exposed due to a kind of “Code of Silence” among officers,
2. Some officers are charged with acts of theft and violation of drug related laws,
3. The media occasionally reveals that even the highest-ranking officers have participated in cases of corruption, more
often in drug related cases,
4. There are two types of corrupt police officers, on one hand there are those who take bribes routinely from organizedcrime gangs in order to protect such criminal gangs from arrest and prosecution, on the other hand there are those
who take bribes occasionally and persistently keep seeking opportunities to demand and take bribes. In both cases,
i.e. the regular bribe takers and the occasional bribe takers become dependant on corruption for their life styles.
E. Arbitrary External InterferenceThis is a difficult matter to deal with, because it involves real problems within the police system. In fact, arbitrary
external interference symbolizes abuse of power be it by the government, high-ranking officers or influential people
within the political or social set up of a country.
As a matter of fact, those who seek to exert arbitrary influence view themselves to be above the law. As a result,powerful people can commit serious crimes using police institutions. In many cases it ends up as a violation of civilrights. Even while society is determined to make reforms to improve the independence of the police system, unfortunately
in several countries, the police is forced to abandon their roles of law enforcement, order maintenance and service.
F. Lack of Personnel
In many situations, some countries are facing crime without the required quality and quantity of police officers. But
even when the quality attained is of a high level there are not enough personnel to perform such police functions, asgathering information, attending crime scenes, inspecting victimised premises and performing other tasks needed toregister criminal complaints. Sometimes many people do not feel attracted to become police officers, as there areinsufficient incentives to do so. However, in most cases, the problem is the budget. Irrespective of the type of policing
system lack of personnel affects efficiency and effectiveness.

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G. Lack of Accountability
People may lose confidence in a police agency for various reasons. Loss of confidence is not occurring in all countries,
however it is affecting those countries that have problems dealing with corruption, abuse of power and institutional
crimes. It is hard to trust police officers whose private lives are not in conformity with their professional ethics. In thesame way, people are not going to have accountability when those who are in charge of law enforcement, break the rules,
even it be relatively inconsequential rules like jumping a red light.
Common people do not tolerate excessive use of force, even if police use of force is lawful. In addition, lack of
accountability is likely to increase in case police agencies do not emphasize community relations, if they embracecorruption and failure to observe exemplary private life styles among some of the police officers.
V. CONCEIVABLE MEASURES
A. Budgetary Constraints
The constraint of budget is one of the factors that can effect many areas of the police organizations, leading up tosituations that inevitably harm police effectiveness, such as: lack of skills, caused by insufficient training; lack ofappropriate or insufficiency of equipment, and lack of logistic support, which deteriorates their operational capacity andaffects the police officer’s motivation; as well as low pay, which in the same way leads to lack of motivation of personnel,
and as a reflection makes the police service less attractive for recruitment of personnel.
Insufficient budgetary allocation for supporting police needs and expenses is commonly found in countries under
severe conditions of social and economical development.
Besides being a result of the establishment of administrative and governmental priorities, the shortage of budgetary
allocation for police forces, as a matter of fact, also seems to be related to the economic capacity of the country.
In this sense, for the purpose of providing satisfactory financial support for police forces, special attention by theGovernment is required, in order to fairly attend the institutional needs of the police, the social expectations on public
safety and the sustainment of the required level of provision of service to the people.
B. Accountability of the Police
The awesome powers given to the police must be matched with the proper system of accountability to ensure thatthe powers given to the police are not misused. The way accountability is enforced presently is very diffused and vague.
Presently there is no outside assessment of various aspects related to the functions of the police in order to determine
whether police is efficient and effective.
The responsible ministries or other bodies under which the police fall have neither the expertise nor wherewithal andsometimes not even the time to properly evaluate the working of the police. In some countries commissions, like thehuman rights commission, or commission for women only look into specific aspects of police work. Therefore there isa need for periodical inspections of the police to be carried out by an independent governmental organ, similar to Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, in the UK, and report to the concerned ministry whether the police is functioning
efficiently and effectively. The head of the police would be required to offer his comments on the reports of such anorgan. Thereafter these reports should be published and laid before the Legislature.
To enable the designated organ to assess the work of the police the government should define a certain limited numberof key objectives for the police force to be accomplished during the year. Similarly for each police formation or unit
certain local key objectives should be defined. To assess the performance of the formation or unit certain performanceindicators/indices need to be developed and proper information on those needs to be gathered on the basis of surveys.
Proper evaluation criteria should be developed to judge the performance of a formation or a subdivision of it, up to
the lowest level, e.g. a police station. Similarly, there is a need to evolve proper evaluation criteria to judge the performanceof individual officers who head these formations or units. The evaluation criteria need to be understood by all membersof the police and published for information.
Complaint Authorities should be set up in accordance with the customs and practice of each country, preferably
headed by persons with judicial experience. Investigation into all complaints against police would in the first instance,
be done by the superiors in the police department or agency itself. Those who do not find satisfaction can approach the187

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Local Complaint Authority, which should have power to direct the police to reinvestigate the complaints. There should
be a mandatory judicial inquiry into all cases of: alleged rape of a woman in police custody, and death of suspects whilein police custody.
Transparency of police agencies is important in order to win the confidence of the citizens they serve. Police agencies
should therefore establish an internal section or department whose function among other should be to release information
on a routine basis regarding actions taken by the police against officers engaging in acts of misconduct.
C. Arbitrary Political Interference
Arbitrary external and political influence is an unfortunate reality in many countries. The level of interference varies
from country to country but all in all where it takes place, it leads the police forces to deviate from the public interest. It
is one of the factors that certainly cause inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the functioning of the police.
In democratic states the principal functions of the police forces are to enforce the law and the protection of thecommunity, acting according to the rule of law. For this purpose the police have to function under the politicians, in orderto receive guidance and keep the sense of orientation on the public interest. On the other hand, politicians are the ones
entrusted to get the views and aspirations of the people, playing the role of issuing general policies, on behalf of thepeople’s interest.
As a distortion of what is mentioned, there are instances where politicians take advantage of the police forces, by
getting them to act for private or personal interests. As the police is normally one part of the executive branch of thegovernment, functioning under the politicians and consequently in a relation of hierarchical obedience, it becomes aneasy way to intervene internally in the police forces. In addition, the selection of the police chiefs is normally made under
the discretion of one individual politician.
Police forces are, in this sense, highly vulnerable to external pressures, particularly those of a political nature, due
to the fact that the police chiefs are subordinated to the political authorities that have put them in the position they are
vested in. In such circumstances a vitiated relationship might be set, as the police heads may feel morally in debt to thepoliticians and obliged to do particular favors for them. In cases where the police chief refuses to stoop to this kind of
relationship he will then be likely to be removed.
In several countries, in addition to nomination of the police chiefs, political authorities are also given the power todecide promotions and posting of high ranking officers, as well as to determine disciplinary sanctions; such powers enable
them to strongly interfere in police matters in several ways.
As a result, some police institutions are affected in their performance, in situations such as: frequently posting andremoval of personnel, harming the continuity of programmes and actions; unreasonable political recommendations that
harm their recruitment processes, leading them to incorporate personnel with low or unsuitable qualifications; making
decisions on promotions based on political criteria, rather than the evaluation of the performance and other legal
requirements; misuse of the police force for attending personal or private and political purposes; as well as unlawfulinterference in investigations and directions given to the police forces.
Since it is obliged to strictly take the rule of law into account, as matter of principle, police must stand apart frompolitics. On the contrary, what has been seen in some countries is a tightening of the relationship between politics andpolice, and a steady increase of the politicization of police officers.
When police organizations have deviated from their real objectives, it is most likely they will experience declining
standards of their component units and individual police officers. Such a situation leads invariably to public outrage
manifested in diverse ways.
Certainly the solution to the problem of external and political arbitrary interference is not easy work, however it
could be appropriate to consider the invigoration of the police organizations and an increase of its autonomy, as relevant
inputs in this regard.
In this sense, the central idea is to keep the police functions insulated from external and arbitrary pressures, by way
of providing structural safeguards, in order to ensure that the police functions are conducted strictly in accordance to thelaw. The executive branch may have demands in regard of preventive police actions and issue guidance on administrative/

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regulatory functions of the police; however, the investigative functions of police should be totally preserved from any
external interference. Presently in some instances investigations of cases involving high political and governmental
authorities, and other VIPs, can not succeed, due to the existing control over the police apparatus.
Police officers must be shielded from undesirable and unwanted interference in posting and transfers. There must be
some neutral mechanism to ensure it. In this regard, the adoption of a police organization in which the control over thepolice by the executive branch is exercised by way of an organ that can ensure its impartiality and political neutrality
seems to be the most important recommendation.
For that purpose, the Japanese police system based on political neutrality and democratic control is fit for consideration,
as it is built in such a way as to ensure absence of arbitrary and political interference. This system may be suitable forsome countries in either its entirety or with minor modifications.
The following is a brief description of the main characteristics of the Japanese police system:1“The National Public Safety Commission and the National Police Agency constitute Japan’s national police
organization. The National Public Safety Commission exercises administrative supervision over the National
Police Agency. While the Commission is under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister is not
empowered to exercise direct command or control. This guarantees the Commission’s independence and ensures
its political neutrality.
The Commission formulates basic policies and regulations, coordinates police administration on matters ofnational concern and authorizes general standards for training, communication, criminal identification, criminal
statistics and equipment.
The Commission appoints the National Police Agency’s Commissioner General and other senior officials ofprefectural police organization. The Commission indirectly supervises prefectural police organizations throughthe National Police Agency.
The Commission consists of a Chairman and five members. The chairman is a state minister who presides overCommission meetings. Members, who serve five-year term, are appointed by the Prime Minister with the consent
of both houses of the Diet. They must be persons who have not served as police officers or public prosecutors
within five years of appointment. To ensure political neutrality, no more than two members may belong to thesame political party.”
Providing a reasonable tenure for officers at senior levels is an important step to improve police performance. In
order to ensure that the office of the police is independent, another recommendation that could be considered is to grantsecurity of the tenure for the police chiefs, at national and state/provincial level. By way of having a fixed tenure thepolice chiefs will have no fear in the exercise of their functions, as they do not have to be under the threat of beingtransferred or removed. Clear provisions should however be laid down for the removal from office of police chiefs. They
should be removable for unsuitability or other causes or proven misconduct.
This treatment is similar to what is done for the prosecution service in various countries, where prosecutors are given
certain prerogatives such that they may be removed only under certain circumstances.
In Japan, for instance, prosecutors may only be removed in circumstances, such as: voluntary resignation, reachingretirement age, found unsuitable for the position by the public prosecutors qualifications examinations committee, anddisciplinary action. Other countries such as Germany and Brazil, similarly, have successfully granted strong prerogatives
for prosecutors, in order to immunize them from external influence.
Matters of promotions and disciplinary actions related to police chiefs and high rank police officers in order to insulatethem from external and political arbitrary interference should be dealt with by a constituted organ (as per the previous
recommendation), which exercises control over the police. In the same way, this measure aims to strengthen the selfconfidence of police chiefs and police officers in order to keep the functioning of the police according to the rule of law,with no fear of retaliation.
1

Text extracted from the magazine Police of Japan 2001, issued by the National Police Agency of Japan, page 02.

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D. Politicization of Police Officers
It has to be mentioned that the politicization of police officers can strongly harm the performance of the police
agencies. In this context the intrusion of politics into police forces may give rise to negative consequences. Among suchnegative consequences: police officers showing lack of professional standards, more concerned with their own interests;
lack of commitment with police duties and low level of discipline, resulting in a weak chain of command.
The gravity of the involvement of politics into police forces can be more clearly understood if the perceived connection
between politicians and organized crime is taken into consideration. In this regard the existing police apparatus cannot
oppose such kinds of coalition, when the police itself is already contaminated.
E. Police Corruption
Police corruption is widely accepted as being a matter of concern on police management, since police officers are
known to serve in a very sensitive and peculiar environment, subjecting them to rather potentially corrupting situations.
However, corruption is not considered an endemic occurrence in some countries.
The causes of corruption of police officers in addition to the environmental conditions of the police service are also
related to other circumstances, such as: lack of ethical standards, which is the foundation of professional conduct; long
periods of service exercising the same functions, which makes an officer develop overrated self confidence in his/her
own capacity; social environmental conditions; as well as low level of training and education.
Police corruption, understood as the dishonesty within the law enforcement function, is the conduit pipe throughwhich criminalization and politicization of police officers passes. It is a complex and harmful situation, which requires
special attention of police management at the governmental level, since its occurrence leads to the development of mistrustof the police organization.
In this regard, for purposes of improving the situation, some practical measures are recommended, as follows:
1. Ethical standards
The establishment of internal regulations on ethics set up by a code of conduct for police stipulating the standards
expected of the police and its officers in the performance of their duties is highly necessary. Such provision shouldemphasize honesty, dedication to duty, exemplary behavior in public, service to people, the rights of private citizens andhuman rights. Such provisions should also put in place the necessary sanctions to be imposed in case of misconduct. The
administration of the disciplinary sanctions should be charged to senior police officers within the police department.
It would also be necessary that a similar code of conduct, both for the government servants as well as the elected
representatives at the various levels be provided, as well as strictly enforced, and not remain on paper only.
2. Training
By way of proper training the Code of Conduct and its ethical values have to be drilled into the minds of police
personnel during the initial training as well as in-service training. As part of the continuous training of the police regular
ethics courses should also be conducted.
3. Punishment
The punishment for proven corruption should be dismissal from service and nothing less. Assets acquired throughcorrupt means need to be forfeited. Procedures for holding departmental enquiries should be simple and fast.
4. Social/Economical support
Police officers have to be granted reasonable conditions for supporting their individual and family needs; withparticular attention to the lower ranking police officers’ working conditions, living conditions, such as: proper housing,schooling for their children and medical assistance.
5. Other measures
Making it compulsory to file annual property returns by all ranks of police, which after submission are scrutinized
and analyzed properly would make it unattractive for police officers to amass wealth through corruption.
To improve in-house vigilance, confidential reports on supervising officers should contain a paragraph regarding
efforts made by the officer to control and curb corruption in the subordinate staff.

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Regular inspections, visits and supervision by senior officers should be done in order to discourage various formsof police misconduct and acts of indiscipline.
Occupational deviance, like the falsification of evidence, planting of evidence in order to secure conviction should
be discouraged and perpetrators of such acts should be punished in accordance with the disciplinary code.
Police agencies serve in given contextual settings. In situations where police corruption is pervasive it is also possiblethat acts of corruption exist in other sectors of the public service. This calls upon a holistic approach to fight corruption
in other sectors of the public service. Countries should therefore consider seriously the setting up of independent anticorruption organs/agencies to investigate acts of corruption among the other members of the public service.
F. Lack of Training
Training is at the very heart of effective and responsible policing. While a lot of lip service is paid to it, in reality it
is a rather neglected area. Training institutions are not given the importance they deserve nor the resources they require.
A very small percentage of the total police budget is spent on training. It is mostly unwanted persons who are posted toa training institute, on occasions as punishment posting. Lack of interest on the part of police chiefs in the matter oftraining and the budgetary constraint, are the major inhibiting factors. Training should not be treated as an end in itself.
The real challenge is to translate the best possible training into the best possible police performance.
There has to be a co-relation between training undergone by the officer and his posting. No officer should be posted
to a new discipline unless he has undergone the requisite training. Promotion should be linked to the training and passingof certain departmental examinations. As such training should not be considered as once-in-lifetime affair at the beginningof the career. In-service training needs to be given greater attention. There is a need for total reorientation in the approachfor training. All training needs to be subdivided in two areas: one that is basic, is motivational; value based which enhancesdiscipline and communications skills; the second area of training should have its objectives, acquisition of specializedskills and professional expertise. Training in both these areas together should achieve two purposes, namely: an attitudinaltransformation and development of skills.
Each police chief should constitute an in-house “committee on training”. The committee should prepare a panel ofcompetent trainers without whom the training programme would receive a set back.
Police behavior, image, public relations and efficiency are inter-related areas. Of this, police behavior is the mostvital parameter and critical variant causing positive or negative impact on the remaining three areas. Police in each country
should adopt the concept of “change-agent-action plan” like a part of the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
project on Improving the Organization and Law Enforcement System and train the required number of change agents at
various levels of police hierarchy. More international cooperation including funding is required to boost the training
programmes in the developing countries.
The impact of training needs to be evaluated properly. There should be a method of such evaluation of each person
who has undergone a training programme at the end of one year after the training. Relevant entries should be made in
the officers’ evaluation report by the superior officer about the use of skills acquired in the training.
There must be greater emphasis on joint training of officers belonging to various components of the criminal justicesystem. Such joint training programmes, including participants from police, prosecution, judiciary, correctional
institutions and prison are very useful for effective coordination and development of mutual understanding among thevarious wings of the system. Perhaps it would be still more useful if some members of the community with relevant
expertise who are in a position to give good feedback about police work are also included in the joint training programmes
as participants as well as guest lecturers or resource persons as the case may be.
Facilities available at police training institutes need to be up dated. The need for improving the infrastructure at thetraining institutes, improving the quality of trainers and provision of incentive to trainers is to be recognized andimplemented with proper allocation of budget.
G. The Role of Police Associations
In some countries Police Associations bringing together various levels of police officers have been established, whichhave played a considerable role in the improvement of the conditions of service for police officers, and raising ethical191

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standards, which has in turn raised the officers’ morale and consequently their efficiency. There is however no practiceor custom of establishing such associations in some countries and therefore this recommendation may be of limited utility.
Hence we recommend that in the countries where local custom, practice or law permits the establishment of police
associations, consideration should be given to establishing them, so that they may assist in various areas of police reform.

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