By Dale AndrewsThe excuse when officialdom is confronted with substantiated allegations of police corruption is the timeworn response which refers to a few deviants or “bad apples” as not representative of the majority of police members.This is no different in Guyana.? However that argument cannot be sustained if the authorities will not outright condemn publicly, the apparent widespread acts of misconduct while pointing to established standards and codes of conduct that are generally complied with. Moreover, the ‘bad apple theory’ of police corruption has, at least as far as official inquiries are concerned,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, now effectively been discredited.The 1976 U.S. Knapp Commission found that corruption existed extensively in drugs enforcement, criminal investigation and in uniformed patrol and effectively debunked the “few rotten apples” by advocating that “…A high command unwilling to acknowledge that the problem of corruption is extensive cannot very well argue that drastic changes are necessary to deal with the problem.” (Knapp, 1972:6-7).? Knapp’s conclusion was supported by reform Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy’s view that “… the task of corruption control is to examine the barrel, not just the apples – the organisation, not just the individuals in it – because corrupt police are made, not born.” (quoted in Barker and Carter, 1986: 10)Furthermore, the situation is certainly not helped by an “us and them” attitude which the Wood Royal Commission in New South Wales found ‘encourages (the) police to adopt an adversarial position to anyone who is not a police officer or who challenges police activity’. (1997a)In a similar vein, the Mollen Commission of 1994 which was mandated to inter alia determine ways for the New York City Police Department to maximize its ability to identify and deter misconduct and corruption through the introduction of proactive measures at all levels, found that the police culture allowed corruption to ‘flourish’ ‘because of willfully blind supervisors who fear the consequences of a corruption scandal more than corruption itself’, and was one reason for the virtual collapse of the anti-corruption systems (1994:1).To speak vaguely of force policies without presenting them for public scrutiny is equivalent to a con game.? The current evidence suggests the policies where they exist are failing due to poor dissemination.? Government through its Ministry of Home Affairs needs to take stock of the persistent criticisms, and take steps to counter the weaknesses in the GPF’s implementation of any anti-corruption policy.Moreover, although it is not unlikely that the GPF might be able to detect examples of corruption, the public is unaware if examples of organised corruption have been found.? This is partly so because the attractiveness of the “bad orange’ notion is supported by the unavoidable visibility of individual cases of corruption.? This is reinforced by the reluctance on the part of many police administrations to admit that corrupt activities are entrenched.Based upon his review of several factors, including definitions of police corruption and typologies of corrupt practices Newburn (op cit) gives some definitive conclusions includingi) police corruption is pervasive,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, continuing and not bounded by rank;(ii) any definition of corruption should cover both ‘financial’ and ‘process’ corruption, and should acknowledge the varying means, ends and motives of corrupt activities;(iii) the boundary between ‘corrupt’ and ‘non-corrupt’ activities is difficult to define, primarily because this is at heart an ethical problem;(iv) police corruption cannot simply be explained as the product of a few ‘bad apples’;(v) the ‘causes’ of corruption include: factors that are intrinsic to policing as a job; the nature of police organisations; the nature of ‘police culture’; the opportunities for corruption presented by the ‘political’ and ‘task’ environments; and, the nature and extent of the effort put in to controlling corruption;(vi) some areas of policing are more prone to corruption than others;(vii) although there are many barriers to successful corruption control, there is evidence that police agencies can be reformed;(viii) reform needs to go beyond the immediately identified problem;(ix) reform must look at the political and task environments as well as the organisation itself;(x) reform tends not to be durable; and(xi) continued vigilance and scepticism is vital.Valuable perceptions when studying police corruption could be gleaned from in-service and former members to determine how members feel about the established rules and standards of conduct with respect to corrupt practices; the various forms of police corruption; how corruption in the organisation should be addressed.The South African Police Service Code of Conduct is considered the best k