Corruption prevention: monitor and address human behaviours

February 2023  |  SPECIAL REPORT: CORPORATE FRAUD & CORRUPTION

Financier Worldwide Magazine

February 2023 Issue

The Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) is the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption monitoring body. Established in 1999, GRECO has since opened up to 50 European and non-European states, of which the US is a member. Among its many functions, GRECO conducts ‘state peer reviews’ via a team of four subject matter experts who conduct a week-long peer assessment in the nation under review. The findings are presented in a detailed recommendation report for sign-off at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Since GRECO’s establishment, four evaluation rounds have been completed, and we are currently in the middle of the fifth round. Each round of evaluations has a thematic focus, and the two main focus areas for the current evaluation round are ‘corruption and prevention at the top executive function in central government’ and ‘corruption and prevention in law enforcement agencies’. While there are of course significant differences between countries, some common themes have already emerged in the assessment of corruption in law enforcement.

The most significant gap that the GRECO evaluators have identified to date is the inadequacy of codes of conduct for law enforcement agencies (LEAs). Indeed, some countries lack a code of conduct for internal professional standards altogether. While LEAs in most Western countries do have a code of conduct, they are marginalised or ignored, with insufficient efforts to disseminate and reinforce the principles advocated in ‘the code’ to the rank-and-file.

LEAs often neglect the development and day to day enforcement of a code of conduct due to precedence given to higher public protection issues, such as tackling serious criminality, violence, promoting public confidence, thwarting terrorism and latterly, supporting other frontline services in responses to huge matters such as coronavirus (COVID-19). A code of conduct or ethics policy often does not take high priority – until, that is, something goes wrong, and the agency finds itself at the centre of a scandal. This neglect is a mistake.

As with any doctrine, there is a judgement to be made between having a policy that records all the principles and standards expected of a workforce, so that internal discipline procedures have a composite record to refer against, and having a tangible product that frontline law enforcement staff can understand and adhere to. It must be something that someone should not need to look up in a book, but common sense – almost automatic and entwined in daily routines and behaviour.

Accepting that codes or versions of codes exist in most states reviewed by GRECO to date, the focus needs to be on how these codes become the ‘life and breath’ of LEAs. There are some worrying themes across states that need to be addressed. Some LEAs allowed law enforcement officers to take political appointments while in service. Some lacked clarity on permissible roles conducted post-retirement, and there were conflicts of interest in relation to family members having a criminal record and a duty on the officer to report. There were also inconsistencies about business interests, gifts and hospitality declarations.

Most serious of all, the reviews showed a lack of routine vetting procedures for officers throughout their service. It should not be the norm that routine vetting checks are only conducted on an officer prior to their joining an LEA. An officer’s career can last anything between 25 to 40 years, depending upon the state concerned, and during that time, human nature shows that people change and a minority of officers, as in many organisations, become susceptible to corruptible approaches. These approaches can be from lone criminals, organised gangs or from less obvious examples such as taking traffic bribes, selling police information, taking advantage of vulnerable people for sexual favours, or simply ignoring a crime committed by a friend or family member.

Not having a robust vetting procedure contained in a code of ethics is dangerous. Without a routine ability to demand an officer to report if a close-relative has been arrested for a criminal offence leaves the LEA open to the potential for a serving officer to be coerced into illegal actions to protect that family member, close friend or associate. Taking this a step further, not having a robust vetting procedure to demand that an officer declares if they have been convicted of an ‘off duty’ criminal offence such as theft or assault leaves the LEA open to an employee who enforces the law against others yet could be a criminal themselves. Without a thorough ‘in service’ vetting procedure, a LEA depends upon the honesty of its officers to admit to having such a contentious issue like a criminal conviction, which is unlikely, to say the least.

A robust code of conduct or code of ethics needs to be the spine of any LEA. The simple reality is that this area of business is critical, easy to remedy and something we all need to promote further. Opportunities can be taken to spread the word contained in the codes, to drip daily reminders, such as at training events, notice boards, weekly newsletters, blogs, or something as simple as having ‘key statements’ on the homepage of a work computer.

This GRECO fifth round is reminding us that corruption prevention is not just about having the right policies in place, but more about how they live within an organisation on a day to day basis. This can be true for any organisation, be it an LEA, public service, bank, corporation or non-governmental organisation. The underlying issue is having robust systems in place that monitor and address human behaviours. There will always be a minority that let the side down and bring reputational damage to an otherwise professional, committed and ethical workforce.

 

Matthew Gardner is the chief operating officer at Intelligent Sanctuary Ltd. He can be contacted by email: mg@isanctuary.io.

© Financier Worldwide

BY

Matthew Gardner

Intelligent Sanctuary Ltd.

©2001-2024 Financier Worldwide Ltd. All rights reserved. Any statements expressed on this website are understood to be general opinions and should not be relied upon as legal, financial or any other form of professional advice. Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the authors’ current or previous employers, or clients. The publisher, authors and authors' firms are not responsible for any loss third parties may suffer in connection with information or materials presented on this website, or use of any such information or materials by any third parties.