Criminology

The Knapp Commission is a body that was set up to launch investigations into corruption and other atrocities that were allegedly committed by the police. This was an idea floated in by the then New York mayor, John Lindsay. It was known to many people as the commission that was set up to bring to book corruption activities that the police were allegedly involved in. Public revelations on the alleged corrupt police activities led to the formation of this commission. It was geared at restoring the police department to its former glory which was known for its integrity.

History of the Knapp Commission
This commission was in operation between 1970 and 1972. It was mainly composed of five New York citizens who saw a need to put to an end the corruption that the police department was apparently practicing. Its chairman was Whitman Knapp who was appointed by the then mayor for New York, Mr. John Lindsay. The other members were Cyrus Vance, Arnold Bauman, Franklin Thomas and Joseph Montserrat. This commission did its own investigations for two years and by the end of 1972, a report on their findings was ready.

 Some of the vices that the police were practicing were bribery, gambling, extortions and other criminal activities that included murders. Corruption in New York was not a new thing and it has been traced to the 1840s. Before the formation of the Knapp Commission, other commissions had been in place. One of them is the Lexow Committee which was set up in 1894. Its main assignment was to investigate alleged gambling and extortion by the police. In 1911, Henry Curran was appointed to look into a murder that had left fingers pointing at the police. A gambler was killed at the Times Square and the police being known for their gambling activities were the first suspects.

Samuel Seabury also headed an investigation commission that was trying to unearth bribery in the police docket. It was alleged that they received hefty bribes from gamblers and bootleggers to allow them continue with their illegal activities and also offer them protection. At this time, 21 policemen had cases to answer though this did not go far as the witness was compromised. The atrocities continued and it took one officer by the name Frank Serpico who had inside information on the going ons in the police force. He informed the higher authorities about the vice and to his dismay, only the junior officers were convicted. He felt that corruption would only be fought from the top and this included the conviction of those in high authority. As this was not happening, he opted to go public with his concrete evidence. This he did with the help of two other officers. Officer Serpicos effort to come out publicly did not go well with the administration. He was seen as a rat and a publicity hungry man who was desperately seeking the limelight.  This move led to the publication of their story which was titled above the fold. With the story out, mayor Lindsay had to act ad this led to the formation of the Knapp Commission.

The impact of the Knapp commission on criminal justice
It was evident that the police force was rotten with Serpicos confession or not. The department was in huge corruption problems and they had to be addressed anyhow. Many investigations were launched in a bid to verify the vices that had been reported by the officers. Illegal activities were unearthed and the commission was able to identify different types of corruption that the New York police exercised. These corruption types included bribery, mooching and shakedowns. In bribery, it was established that the police granted criminals favors in exchange of money as well as other kinds of payments that they deemed appropriate. These favors included their continuation of the illegal business. In mooching, the police used to receive gifts from the criminals and in return granted them favors. These gifts included liquor, services and even cigarettes which were meant to silence the police on the ongoing criminal activities. Shakedowns involved the coercion of the offender by the police officer to grant him goods or money. This they did even to clean citizens who they would threaten with subsequent arrests if they did not comply.

Hearings were set and the public was involved and they were asked to forward their complaints which they did gladly. More than 2,000 complaints were registered. As a result, more than fifty officers were indicted while many others were transferred to other stations. The findings were shocking and a theory by the name the rotten apple came to be. This was coined to try to explain the circumstances under which a bunch of corrupt officers spread their rot to taint the whole system. The commission established that the corruption vice was widespread and that four in every five policemen had received a bribe. The Knapp Commission also learnt that the judicial system was exercising laxity as the gambling laws were not clearly enforced. This had led to many offenders going scot free and others receiving nominal punishment for their offences. Many offenders were arrested but only a small fraction of them was charged.

Gambling was the main vice and it was present in every city. The main culprits were ghetto dwellers and the police had capitalized on this. They received bribes from them and in return protected them from arrest. Leniency in the gambling cases was a leeway to other crimes such as drug peddling and other unlawful mob activities. Due to the unlawful deals with the public, the police lost their integrity and the public stopped respecting them. This was so destroying especially to the young generation. As the police were constantly engrossed in their bribe collection job, their duties went undone and this led to a rise in insecurity and lawlessness. Gambling being a deep rooted vice, the Knapp Commission resolved to legalize it, a rather controversial move. The police however were not allowed to take part in any gambling deals. This role was left to other civil agents.

One of the commissions members, Patrick Murphy, is accredited to have reformed the police force system in New York. Under his recommendations, the inspectors and other high ranking police officers became more accountable for what their juniors were doing. In the earlier years, they had not been concerned about what their juniors did and this had brought about a huge disconnect in the police force. Murphy also came up with an incentive whereby crimes of corruption were stopped before they occurred. Through this, the police redeemed themselves and their image changed greatly in the public eye. They became more focused and devoted to heir work. This was a major turning point and Murphy clearly brought a change that was felt.

The Knapp Commission was an eye opener to the various criminal activities that were doing their rounds in the police force. With its initiative, dramatic changes were felt all over the police force and this was a huge step towards criminal justice. The Knapp commission gave birth to another commission, the Mollen Commission which came to be after police officers were implicated in drug trafficking. This was a clear sign that there were still rotten apples in the system. John Dorschner, a journalist, came up with factors which he thought led to corruption among police officers. These included improper training, greed (corrupt deals would triple their salaries) as well as poor supervision from their seniors. The dilemma which these commissions felt that the senior officers faced included their not being aware of the action to take faced with such offences apparently committed by their junior officers. Their not being able to exercise justice was also another factor that accelerated corruption in the police force. Corruption clearly came with fast cash and the officers might have been tempted to make wrong choices in such cases.