Frank L. Perry

About the author: Frank L. Perry, the former chief of the Ethics Unit, Office of Professional Responsibility, at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, is head of the FBI agency in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Most studies of police corruption are beginning to reject the "bad apple" theory—that corrupt officers are only a few rotten apples in the barrel. Instead, they are beginning to examine the "barrel" —the individual police department—for signs that corruption is allowed, encouraged, or ignored. Police departments must ensure that only fully qualified applicants who demonstrate integrity are selected to become police officers. To prevent corruption, police officers should be frequently assigned new roles or to different departments, especially those officers who work in positions that are more prone to corruption, such as vice squads or drug...