The Knapp Commission was a committee of five citizens established and impanelled by then-New York City Mayor John Lindsay in 1972 that endeavored to investigate corrupt activities of police officers, detectives, and supervisors working in the New York Police Department (NYPD). Mayor Lindsay was pressured to investigate corruption in the NYPD after a series of articles that appeared in local newspapers detailed a wide breadth of corrupt activities of officers throughout the NYPD. The first article in the series was written by a reporter named David Burnham and the article appeared in the New York Times. The impetus and primary sources of information for Burnham’s article were two NYPD police officers, Frank Serpico and David Durk.
The Knapp Commission was the next major commission to investigate police misconduct and corruption. The Knapp Commission found that the most serious police misconduct involved the enforcement of prostitution, gambling, and narcotics. New York City was enduring an increase in the illegal street narcotics trade (mainly of heroin) that led to new opportunities for corruption prior to the creation of the Knapp Commission investigation. …show more content…
Many of the criminals involved in bribing police officers prior to the Knapp Commission were involved in vice crime rackets such as prostitution and gambling. However, the Knapp Commission and subsequent investigations found that the easy flow of currency involved in the illicit narcotics trade afforded new corruption opportunities. One of the commission’s chief witnesses was a police officer named William Phillips who was caught receiving bribes during an investigation conducted by the
The Knapp Commission was the next major commission to investigate police misconduct and corruption. The Knapp Commission found that the most serious police misconduct involved the enforcement of prostitution, gambling, and narcotics. New York City was enduring an increase in the illegal street narcotics trade (mainly of heroin) that led to new opportunities for corruption prior to the creation of the Knapp Commission investigation. …show more content…
Many of the criminals involved in bribing police officers prior to the Knapp Commission were involved in vice crime rackets such as prostitution and gambling. However, the Knapp Commission and subsequent investigations found that the easy flow of currency involved in the illicit narcotics trade afforded new corruption opportunities. One of the commission’s chief witnesses was a police officer named William Phillips who was caught receiving bribes during an investigation conducted by the