For Immediate Release
January 21, 1998
Washington D.C. FBI National Press Office
Following the recent arrests of law enforcement officers in West New York, New Jersey; Starr County, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and Cleveland, Ohio,
FBI Director Louis J. Freeh today said, "The insidious nature of police corruption inherently undermines the confidence of the American people in one of the basic tenets of democracy--that law enforcement officers will honestly and fairly protect and serve the citizens to whom they answer. The selfish and deceitful acts of a few cannot be allowed to impugn the integrity of the law enforcement profession. For these reasons, vigorous investigation of police corruption is a FBI national priority and will remain so."
Freeh made the comments following the arrest by FBI Special Agents today of 59 persons in the Cleveland area, including 42 officers from five law enforcement agencies in Cleveland and its suburbs charged in Federal warrants with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The defendants include 18 police officers and 24 corrections officers. The agencies are the Cleveland Police Department; Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office in Cleveland; Cleveland Heights Police Department; East Cleveland Police Department; and the Brooklyn, Ohio, Police Department. Nine other persons accused of impersonating law enforcement officers also were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In addition, eight persons were charged in an FBI undercover operation against organized crime.
"Great credit must go to the overwhelming majority of honest police throughout the country, including those in the Cleveland area, for their vigorous efforts to prevent and combat corruption," Freeh said. "National law enforcement organizations also have been unrelenting in efforts against corruption, and the FBI is proud to be the partner of all in this essential work. Nation-wide organizations taking such major steps include the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs' Association, and the Major City Chiefs."
Freeh said part of the national scope of the allegations of police corruption was also shown in three other separate cases in which the FBI made arrests in the past week:
Three Detroit police officers were charged on January 14 with conspiring to commit a robbery of approximately $1 million. In Starr County, Texas, the sheriff, a justice of the peace, and five county jailers were charged on January 14 with bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. Nine current or former West New York, New Jersey, police officers were charged on January 13 with racketeering involving protection of prostitution and illegal gambling.
"Those arrested and charged are innocent until proven guilty but I cite corruption allegations, particularly those systemic in nature, as part of a pattern that is of growing concern to all honest local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel throughout the country," Freeh said.
Freeh said, "In recent years the FBI has arrested police officers for corruption in every region of the nation, in large, medium-sized and small cities, towns and villages; from the inner city precincts to rural sheriff's departments.
"Statistics show the FBI's commitment in fighting these threats to the integrity of the criminal justice system," Freeh said. "From 1994 to 1997, a total of 508 persons were convicted in law enforcement corruption cases investigated by the FBI. Many more officers were convicted in cases stemming from organized crime, drugs, or on other non-corruption statutory basis. Nearly 45 percent of the police corruption cases during that period were drug related."
"To their great credit, police officials throughout the nation support efforts to expose corruption and many departments have created significant reforms," Freeh said. "We are all in this together and must join forces to root out corruption at every level: local, state, and federal; police departments from our largest cities to our smallest hamlets; sheriff's departments from urban areas to the most sparsely-settled countryside.
"No law enforcement agency, and certainly not the FBI, is immune from the scourge of corruption. The FBI is as tough or tougher on its own personnel as on any other agency, and we have arrested FBI Special Agents, and obtained convictions, on a variety of charges," Freeh said.
"Police corruption knows no state or regional borders. It must be attacked not only by everyone in the law enforcement profession but also by elected officials from the governor's office to the state legislature to the mayor's office to the city council," Freeh said. "Ultimately, it is the public that must demand from their elected officials and law enforcement executives an absolute commitment to integrity."
Freeh said, "Police corruption aids criminals and reduces the level of protection that police give to the public, particularly in those neighborhoods already victimized by crime. Law enforcement must have 100 percent dedication to its sacred oath to protect the public from harm, but corrupt police officers will not protect the public from anything--not the worst crimes.
"All law enforcement agencies must work to make certain that the men and women of their departments are held to the highest standards of integrity, and I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of joint, cooperative efforts by the FBI with all other law enforcement agencies in the nation to go forward together in this crucial fight against corruption," Freeh said.
"Together, we must ensure that the law enforcement profession hires only the best; trains those officers regarding integrity issues; closely supervises them; and aggressively investigates when allegations of misconduct arise. For it is only through a clear, forceful and united message by the vast majority of honest and dedicated law enforcement professionals-- that corruption will not be tolerated--that we can hope to retain the trust and confidence of the American people," Freeh said.
"For the FBI, a vigorous anti-corruption program is among our highest national priorities, and will continue to be," Freeh said.