|
|
|
| NEWS > 05 June 2007 |
Other related articles:
Wis. police to plead guilty in
MILWAUKEE — A suspended police officer and a former officer agreed Thursday to plead guilty to federal civil rights charges in the 2004 beating of a biracial man that inflamed racial tensions in the city, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic said he expects to file more charges in the coming weeks stemming from the attack on Frank Jude Jr. outside a party at an officer's house. Jude was kicked and punched by a group of white men who identified themselves as off-duty police officers.
Suspended police officer Joseph Schabel agreed to plead guilty to violating Jude... Read more
|
 Article sourced from
|
|
Jurnalo - Berlin,Germany
05 June 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
|
Hungarian National Police
|
Hungarian police struggle to e
When Hungary's new national police chief was sworn in on Monday, it was supposed to be the start of a clean sheet for a force beset by accusations of corruption and wrongdoing.The justice minister, the national police chief, the Budapest police chief and several other top policemen all left their jobs a few weeks previously following a string of corruption allegations and an alleged rape by on-duty officers.
However, with new chief Jozsef Bencze only one day into the job, he is already facing Paul Wolfowitz-style accusations of favouring his girlfriend during his previous job at the Customs and Finance Guard (VPOP).
Wolfowitz, the head of the World Bank, is stepping down June 30 after a scandal over a pay raise he arranged for his girlfriend at the bank, and the Hungarian media is gleefully comparing Bencze with the disgraced bank chief.
Bencze is accused of giving his girlfriend three bonuses for "outstanding work" in December 2005, May 2006 and July 2006 while she worked at the section Bencze headed up.
The customs guard and Bencze do not deny that the bonuses were given, but say that they represented nothing out of the ordinary.
"There were those who received bonuses once [per year], there were those got them twice, those who got them four times," Jeno Sipos, spokesman for VPOP told Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa.
"It was based entirely on work performance," he continued. "His girlfriend did not get more bonuses. "
News website index. hu also claimed that Sipos had to move out of the flat provided by VPOP so that Bencze could move his girlfriend in. Sipos, however, flatly denied this was the case.
Bencze said that their relationship was not serious at that time, and as soon as it became so - they now have a child together - they agreed she should find a new job.
The accusations led to main opposition parties Fidesz and the Christian Democrats to demand that Bencze not take up his new role.
Fidesz said it believed the police was in "a serious moral crisis" and that Bencze would only create more scandal.
More negative media coverage, particularly regarding the previously unscathed VPOP, was the last thing the beleaguered police force and government needed in the face of falling public trust.
The clearout at the top of the force was an attempt to boost public confidence as scandal after scandal piled up.
Five police officers are in preliminary custody after the event that triggered the round of resignations - the alleged rape of a 21-year-old woman by in-uniform officers.
Prior to the rape arrests, a police officer was found guilty of stealing money from a bank following a hostage situation and 13 motorway police were arrested under suspicion of accepting bribes.
More police officers have been arrested under suspicion of appropriating almost 5,000 dollars and thousands of cartons of cigarettes from a smuggler.
Opposition parties blame the unpopular Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany for the crisis, saying his failure to censure "brutal" police after last year's anti-government protests means police officers feel they can do whatever they want.
Anti-government riots broke out last autumn following the leak of a tape on which Gyurcsany admitted lying about the state of the economy. Around 40 police officers are facing proceedings for using excessive force during the confrontations.
According to Krisztian Szabados, director of the independent Political Capital Institute, trust in the police was high until the recent issues, despite low-level police corruption as the nation transited from communism.
"Police corruption was common, especially with being able to bribe police when caught speeding . but this sort of deep moral crisis has not happened so far," he told dpa.
Because of VPOP's reputation, Bencze was supposed to be the man to lead the Hungarian force out of its problems, but now Szabados feels his position is compromised.
"They need a strong leader, but he is starting with a handicap and has to clean the police up while also accused of corruption," he said.
"Even if he is not to blame for giving his girlfriend bonuses, he will be stigmatized," Szabados continued. "The US government tried to defend Wolfowitz and I think the same will happen here . but I don't know if Bencze is strong enough to survive."
|
| |
 EiP Comments:
|
|---|
|
| |
* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
Ethics in Policing, based in the UK, provide information and advice about the following:
Policing Research | Police News articles | Police Corruption | International Policing | Police Web Sites | Police Forum | Policing Ethics | Police Journals | Police Publications |
|
| |
|
