FIGHTING POLICE CORRUPTION

Police work often takes officers to the doorstep of temptation -
particularly vice officers. They typically work out of view of supervisors
and in the presence of witnesses whose words don't count for much. What's
more, the officers enjoy wide discretion and the right to use force.

The recent arrest of veteran Milwaukee Detective Edwin Bonilla on a charge
of theft highlights the frequent opportunities for misconduct posed by
policing. The charge stemmed from a sting designed to expose Bonilla's
alleged habit of pocketing drug money on hand at busts.

The theft of drug loot ranks among the toughest types of corruption to
police, says Temple University criminologist James Fife, a leading expert
on abuses by cops. Drug theft cases have flared up on big-city police
forces throughout the country.

How do police departments guard against such misconduct? Put officers in
teams. Hire good people. Act decisively against incidents of corruption
when they do come to light. And, Fife says, foster a department wide
atmosphere of integrity that begins the first day a recruit enters the
police academy.

The Milwaukee Police Department is trying all that and more. Over this
weekend, Police Chief Arthur Jones is using an additional tool: rotation.
He is moving a score of officers off the vice squad and another score onto
it. He says he has been planning the transfers since January, before he
learned of the Bonilla case. Fife argues that rotation helps to fight
burnout and corruption, though it has a downside: the loss of expertise.
Jones himself acknowledges that in rotating, he must balance those
considerations.

All in all, Jones seems to be doing the right things. He acted on the
Bonilla case as soon as he learned of allegations of theft. The Milwaukee
Police Department and the FBI are digging to find out how wide and deep the
possible Bonilla wrongdoing runs. And as he should, Jones is using this
case to examine whether new safeguards ought to be put into place or old
ones strengthened.

In some police departments, a code of silence among the rank and file and a
tolerant attitude among the top brass permit corruption to flourish. But in
Milwaukee, a fellow cop squealed on Bonilla, and the top brass acted
decisively. That speaks volumes.