Bent Coppers : Survey of Police Corruption (New ed)

Since the days of the Bow Street Runners, allegations of brutality, bribery and underhand dealing have been a constant reminder that criminal activity is not restricted to the criminal fraternity.

Given their positions of power, and the diversity inherent in human nature, it is perhaps inevitable that there should be occasions when policemen and women are themselves guilty of the very offences they are trying to prevent. This is a study of police corruption in all its forms in the United Kingdom.

The author then traces the history of criminal activity within the force from its earliest days, thoroughly documenting such cases as the sergeant who ran a string of brothels in Manchester and the infamous Soho porn scandal of the early 1970s, which led to the conviction of several senior officers. This book offers a sobering antidote to the myth of the guileless British bobby, and an insight into some of the problems, both actual and potential, faced by the British police force today.