Police Integrity and Corruption in Albania

226 Pages·2014·10.96 MB·English

INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY AND MEDIATION

Police
Integrity
and
Corruption
in Albania

Institute for Democracy and Mediation 3
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary 8
2. Introduction 13
3. Methodology 14
3.1. Methodology of Survey with Citizens 15
3.2.  Methodology of Survey with State Police Officials  15
3.3. Qualitative Analysis 16
3.4. Interviews with Hypothetical Scenarios 16
4. Police Corruption 18
4.1. What Is Corruption? 18
4.2. Police Corruption and Its Types 20
4.3. Corruption, Deviance and Misconduct 25
4.4. Police Integrity and Corruption 30
5. Police Corruption in Albania 31
5.1. Corruption as a General Phenomenon 31
5.2. Types of Corruption 36
5.3. Police Corruption in Albania 39
6. Literature Review on Factors of Police Corruption 41
6.1. Combination of PESTL Factors 42
6.2.  Combination of Structural and Cultural Influences  43
6.3. Combination of Constant and Variable Factors 44
6.4. The Combination of Individual, Organizational and Societal Factors 48
6.5. Other Factors 53
7. Assessment of State Police Anticorruption Framework in Albania 54
7.1. Anticorruption Policy 55
7.1.1. National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2008-2013 55
7.1.2. State Police Strategy 2007-2013 58
7.1.3. National Plan on Implementation of Stabilization and Association Agreement 2009-2014 59
7.2. Legal Framework 62
7.3. Institutional Framework 67
7.4. Results in the Fight against Corruption 70
8. Extent and types of police corruption in Albania 77
8.1. Extent of Spread of Corruption 77
8.1.1. Spread of Corruption According to the Public 78
8.1.2.  Spread of Corruption according to Police Officers  80
4 Police Integrity and Corruption in Albania
8.2. Types of Corruption 81
8.2.1.  Official and Media Reports  81
8.2.2. Public Perception 83
8.2.3.  Police Officers’ Perception  85
9. Causes of Police Corruption in Albania 88
9.1. Public Perceptions 88
9.2.  Police Officers’ Perceptions   90
9.2.1. Overall Environment 90
9.2.2. Organizational Factors 91
9.2.3. Trust in the Anticorruption System 95
10. Police Integrity and Corruption 97
10.1. Assessment of Severity of Conduct 100
10.2. Support for Disciplinary Measures 101
10.3. Willingness to Report Violations 102
10.4.  Compliance with the Official Policy  104
11. Conclusions and Recommendations 106
11.1. Conclusions 106
11.2. Recommendations for the Reform 107
12. Annexes 112
12.1. Annex 1 112
12.1.1. Description of sample 112
12.1.2. Acquaintance with police organizations 114
12.1.3. Information and perceptions on corruption 117
12.1.4. Experiences with corruption 122
12.1.5. Types and degree of corruption 125
12.1.6. External factors of corruption 127
12.1.7. Internal factors of corruption 130
12.1.8. Tolerance to corruption 130
12.1.9.  Trust in fight against corruption  133
12.1.10. Evaluation of anti-corruption legal framework and policies 136
12.2. Annex 2 140
12.2.1. Sample Description 140
12.2.2. Acquaintance of police organizations 143
12.2.3. Experiences with corruption 149
12.2.4. Types and degree of corruption 151
12.2.5. External factors of corruption 154
12.2.6. Internal factors of corruption 156
12.2.7. Tolerance to corruption 158
12.2.8.  Trust in fight against corruption  160
12.2.9. Review of legal framework and anti-corruption policies 164
Institute for Democracy and Mediation 5
12.3. Annex 3 167
12.3.1. Perception on corruption and police organizations 167
12.3.2. Experiences with corruption 173
12.3.3. Types of corruption in State Police – Bribe 175
12.3.4. External and internal factors of corruption 175
12.3.5.  Tolerance to corruption & confidence in fight against corruption  178
12.3.6. Appropriateness and enforcement of the anticorruption legal framework/ policies 180
12.4. Annex 4 183
12.4.1. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 183
12.4.2. ACQUENTANCE WITH POLICE ORGANISATIONS 184
12.4.3. INFORMATION ON CORRUPTION 186
12.4.4. PERCEPTIIONS ON CORRUPTION 187
12.4.5. EXPERIENCES WITH CORRUPTION 189
12.4.6. TYPES AND DEGREE OF CORRUPTION 192
12.4.7. EXTERNAL FACTORS OF CORRUPTION 193
12.4.8. INTERNAL FACTORS OF CORRUUPTION 194
12.4.9. TOLERANCE TO CORRUPTION 195
12.4.10. TRUST IN FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION 196
12.4.11. EVALUATION OF ANTI-CORRUPTION FRAMEWORK 197
12.5. Annex 5 200
12.5.1. DEMOGRAFIC DATA 200
12.5.2. ACQUENTANCE OF POLICE ORGANISATIONS 201
12.5.3. INFORMATION ON CORRUPTION 202
12.5.4. PERCEPTIONS ON CORRUPTION 203
12.5.5. EXPERIENCES WITH CORRUPTION 205
12.5.6. TYPES AND DEGREE OF CORRUPTION 206
12.5.7. EXTERNAL FACTORS OF CORRUPTION 207
12.5.8. INTERNAL FACTORS OF CORRUPTION 208
12.5.9. TOLERANCE TO CORRUPTION 209
12.5.10. TRUST IN FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION 211
12.5.11. EVALUATION OF ANTI-CORRUPTION FRAMEWORK 212
12.6. Annex 6 214
12.6.1. Table of scenarios 214
12.6.2. Table of responses 216
6 Police Integrity and Corruption in Albania
Foreword
Police organizations present a unique paradox in modern democracies:
they are guarantors of security and protectors of fundamental freedoms;
and, at the same time, they are a potent threat to those same liberties. Per-
haps no other servants of the state carry so much responsibility and require
so much public trust. The police must be able to exercise a wide range
of lawful powers - including the use of deadly force - in order to protect
citizens and ensure law and order; and, at the same time, they must act in
a manner that fully respects the law, civil liberties and basic human rights.
The extent to which the police get the balance right is a recognized indi-
cator of true democracy in a society. That indicator of true democracy is
often measured by the level of public trust in the police.
The publication of this IDM research report is both welcome and timely,
as a means of measuring public trust in the Albanian State Police (ASP)
and indicating the strength of democracy in this country. A wealth of data
has been provided that will assist in understanding public perceptions of
the police in greater depth and detail than in any previous period of Al-
bania’s history. This data will provide a much-needed factual basis for 
debate about integrity within the ranks of the ASP, and inform the process
of police reform and restructuring. The IDM information will also provide
added impetus to the revised Code of Ethics and the growing desire within
the Government to eradicate police corruption through an uncompromis-
ing adherence to moral and ethical principles.
Dr. Frank Harris, D.Crim.J.
Police Accountability Advisor, Ministry of Internal Affairs
ICITAP, Albania
Institute for Democracy and Mediation 7

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

ASP Albanian State Police
CMD    Council of Ministers’ Decision
CoE Council of Europe
CPI Corruption Perception Index
EU European Union
ICS Internal Control Service
ICITAP International Crime Investigative Training Assistance Program
IDM Institute for Democracy and Mediation
IDRA Institute for Development Research and Alternatives
PESTL Political, economic, social, technological, and legal (factors)
PSD Professional Standards Department
SAA Stabilization-Association Agreement
SAA Stabilization-Association Agreement
SELDI Southeast Europe Leadership for Development and Integrity
SP State Police
TI Transparency International
UN United Nations
US United States
USAID United States Agency for International Development
WB World Bank
8 Police Integrity and Corruption in Albania
1. Executive Summary
This publication treats corruption in the State Police in Albania and the
need to strengthen integrity of the institution of the Police as a means to
reduce corruption. During the years of transition, corruption has surfaced
as one of the major problems of governance in Albania. The data show that
corruption is still high and prevalent.
The measures undertaken over the last decade to address this problem
through constant reforms and by adopting or reviewing the legislation on
conflict of interests, by limiting the immunity of politicians and judiciary, 
or to better address the financing of political parties have produced no 
steady effects, indicating that corruption has been resistant to these mea-
sures.
The police have been quite exposed to the threat in this environment of
widespread corruption, due to the fact that the police are one of the ma-
jor law enforcement institutions to investigate corruption. In this context,
police corruption has also constituted one of the causes of the prevailing
corruption in other sectors.
Similar to other sectors, corruption of police in Albania has been wide-
spread and the police are perceived by the public as one of the institutions
with the highest level of corruption in the country. Irrespective of efforts
made to address this phenomenon among the police, principally through
amendments to the legislation and enhancement of institutional capacities,
results indicate that police corruption is still persistent.
In light of this context, this publication seeks to bring to the attention of
policymakers, senior police leaders and officers, other stakeholders, and 
public at large the problem of police corruption and the particular impor-
tance of the fight against this phenomenon among the police. Its main goal 
is to contribute to the improvement of the anticorruption measures by ac-
quiring a better knowledge of the police corruption and the factors that
Institute for Democracy and Mediation 9
drive or control it.
At first, the study elaborates police corruption as a specific phenomenon 
by highlighting the need to develop anticorruption measures in conformity
with the specifics that characterize it. To this end, the study focuses on an 
evaluation of (i) the level and forms of police corruption, (ii) the factors
that drive police corruption, and, (iii) the relevance, efficacy, efficiency, 
and sustainability of anticorruption measures.
To date, police corruption has been identified mainly with bribery, even 
though the forms of police corruption are diverse. In this aspect, this study
seeks to address the problem of police corruption beyond its comprehen-
sion as bribery by identifying other forms of corruption and by differ-
entiating between police corruption and police misconduct. Additionally,
some attention has been paid to factors that encourage corruption to deter-
mine whether police corruption is considered as deviation of certain police
officers or it is simply shaped by the legislation vacuum. This study sheds 
light on a range of political, economic, social and cultural organization
causes.
The study has paid special attention to evaluate the anticorruption frame-
work and measures that have been and are being implemented in the po-
lice. It has not, however, considered the most recent amendments to the
legislation on police.
Particular emphasis is given to the strengthening of police integrity, which
is conceptualized as the drive to resist temptation of abusing with the rights
and privileges of the occupation. Introduction of this concept aims to en-
courage the change of approach to police corruption, which is mostly treat-
ed as a phenomenon caused by the individual conduct of a limited number
of police officers that are untrained or inclined to break rules rather than as 
a problem of the police organization.
Taking into account the difficulties of measuring the spread and the causes 
of corruption, the study has endeavored to minimize these strains by using
a series of methodological instruments. In addition to reviewing the litera-
ture on police corruption, the legal and sublegal framework, and various
national and international reports, the study relies on the data obtained
10 Police Integrity and Corruption in Albania
from surveys with the public and police officers as well as from deepened 
interviews with police officers and other institutional and social actors. 
Anticorruption measures and policies have been assessed for their rele-
vance, efficacy, efficiency, and sustainability. This approach was chosen 
in view of the assumption that the effectiveness of anticorruption policies
and measures in Albania has been low and corruption has not been put
under control; rather, it has increased, even though the fight against cor-
ruption has been declared as a major priority of the Government of Albania
(GoA) for over a decade. This is also confirmed by the Global Corrup-
tion Barometer 2013 of the Transparency International (TI), according to
which 66% of Albania citizens believe that corruption has increased (40%
believe that it has increased a lot and 26% believe it has increased a little),
whereas only 24% of respondents think that government’s actions in the 
fight against corruption has been effective.
Findings show that police corruption is endemic. While partial and without
specific focus on the police, various surveys and studies on corruption and 
integrity of institutions conducted mainly in the early 2000s reveal high
levels of corruption in this sector. In several segments of the police, such
as traffic, border and migration, and criminal unit, corruption results to be 
more pervasive than in other services.
Police corruption is not limited to financial gains only. It includes other 
forms, such as soliciting or giving favors, gains from the police means
and resources, manipulation of evidence, use of excessive force, etc. The
extent of spread of corruption among police forces does not seem to con-
sider ranks and levels within the police service, and this seems to affect the
diverse forms of corruption.
Regarding the causes, police corruption relates, first of all, to the political 
and social context and then to the transition from the communist regime.
During the transitional years, a combination of political, economic and so-
cial problems coupled with the institutional and legal vacuum made it pos-
sible for corruption to develop soarlingly at all levels. Moral vacuity and
human insecurities contributed to the identification of corruption as a normal 
phenomenon of the capitalist society and oftentimes accepted as legitimate.