CORRUPTION IN A SMALL CITY (FROM JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONS, 1978, BY NORMAN JOHNSTON AND LEONARD D SAVITZ - SEE NCJ-47922)

• NCJ Number: 47925
• Author(s): ANON
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 9 pages
• Corporate Author: Oregon Board on Police Standards and Training; John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: SOURCE - 1973-1974 REPORT, PENNSYLVANIA CRIME COMMISSION, P 152-164

Annotation

THE SCOPE AND HISTORY OF A YORK, PA., KICKBACK SCHEME INVOLVING THE CITY POLICE AND LOCAL TOW-TRUCK OPERATORS ARE DISCUSSED.

Abstract

IN EARLY JUNE 1973, A SERIES OF ARTICLES APPEARED IN YORK NEWSPAPERS CONCERNING AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION BY THE YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT OF ALLEGATIONS OF BRIBES OR KICKBACKS BEING PAID BY TOW-TRUCK OPERATORS TO MEMBERS OF THE CITY POLICE FORCE. AS A RESULT OF THIS PUBLICITY, THE PENNSYLVANIA CRIME COMMISSION INVESTIGATED ALLEGED POLICE CORRUPTION. THE INVESTIGATION COMMENCED IN LATE JUNE 1973. INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED WITH TOWING OPERATORS, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION, AND APPROXIMATELY 20 MEMBERS OF THE YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT. THE COMMISSION WAS INFORMED BY SOME OF THESE POLICE OFFICERS THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED MONEY FROM TOW-TRUCK OPERATORS. SOME BELIEVED THAT A VERY SUBSTANTIAL PERCENTAGE OF THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT HAD RECEIVED MONEY FROM OPERATORS ON AT LEAST ONE OCCASION, AND A NUMBER OF THE OFFICERS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED TOWING KICKBACKS FROM THE CHIEF OF POLICE. IN THE COURSE OF AN INDEPTH INQUIRY, THE COMMISSION FOUND THAT SYSTEMATIC CORRUPTION HAD EXISTED AT ALL LEVELS OF THE YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AS A RESULT OF FREQUENT ILLEGAL KICKBACKS OR PAYOFFS FROM TOW-TRUCK OPERATORS. TWENTY-SEVEN MEMBERS OF THE POLICE FORCE ADMITTED UNDER OATH THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED PAYMENTS FROM TOWING COMPANIES ON AT LEAST ONE OCCASION; MOST OF THESE 27 OFFICERS FURTHER ADMITTED RECEIVING NUMEROUS PAYOFFS IN THE PAST. ALSO, OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE INDICATED THAT THE CHIEF OF POLICE WAS DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE ILLEGAL PAYOFF SYSTEM AS THE CONDUIT FOR PAYMENTS. THE HIGHLY COMPETITIVE NATURE OF THE TOWING BUSINESS IN YORK AND THE POLICE OFFICER'S GENERALLY UNLIMITED DISCRETION TO SELECT WHICH TOWING COMPANY WILL DO THE WORK, COMBINED WITH EITHER THE INDIFFERENCE OR THE HIGHLY EMOTIONAL STATE OF MOST MOTORISTS, PRODUCED A SITUATION RIFE WITH CORRUPTION. THE TOW-TRUCK BUSINESS IN YORK HAD BEEN HIGHLY COMPETITIVE DUE TO THE EXISTANCE OF NINE INDEPENDENT TRUCK OPERATORS. POLICE DEPARTMENT RECORDS REGARDING THE ALLOCATION OF TOWING JOBS TO THESE COMPANIES INDICATED THAT A FEW OF THE FIRMS RECEIVED THE BULK OF THE BUSINESS DURING THE 3-YEAR PERIOD UNDER STUDY. REGARDING THE IMPACT OF THE KICKBACK SCHEME ON THE PUBLIC, THE TRUCK OPERATORS TESTIFIED THAT THEY CHARGED THE PUBLIC RATES HIGHER THAN THOSE RECOMMENDED BY THE AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION IN ORDER TO OFFSET THE PAYMENTS TO THE POLICE. EXCERPTS OF TESTIMONY BEFORE THE COMMISSION ARE PROVIDED, AS IS A CHART CONTAINING DATA ON POLICE ALLOCATIONS OF TOWING ASSIGNMENTS. (KBL)