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guilty of, but which they learned to do from other cops or from imitating the deviants they watch and investigate every day. The commission even concluded that "grass eating" was used by police officers in New York City to prove their loyalty to the brotherhood, and with that came incentives like side jobs. One method of preventing cops from becoming corrupt is to eliminate this step by removing veteran cops who do this; without any veteran cops to learn this from, new officers might decide to never "eat grass".
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The term "Grass Eaters" is used to describe police officers who "accept gratuities and solicit five, ten, twenty dollar payments from contractors, tow-truck operators, gamblers, and the like but do not pursue corruption payments". "Grass eating" is something that a significant number of officers are
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dealers for money, not only for the material profit to the officers, but for the relief from guilt that the officers derive by convincing themselves that their victims deserve such treatment. They justify taking advantage of these kinds of criminals because they are considered the dregs of society.
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The Knapp
Commission Report on Police Corruption identified two particular classes of corrupt police officer, which it called "Grass Eaters" and "Meat Eaters". This classification refers to petty corruption under peer pressure ("eating grass") and aggressive premeditated major corruption ("eating
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was appointed by Mayor
Lindsay shortly after the commission was formed to clean up the department, implement proactive integrity checks, transfer senior personnel on a huge scale, rotate critical jobs, ensure sufficient funds to pay informants, and crack down on citizen attempts at bribery.
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The commission issued its preliminary report on August 15, 1972, and issued its final report on
December 27, 1972. In its final report, the commission found widespread corruption in the New York City Police Department, and made the following recommendations:
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While the Knapp
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246:"Meat Eaters" are officers who "spend a good deal of time aggressively looking for situations they can exploit for financial gain". An example of this is shaking down
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As an immediate result of the testimony of the witnesses, criminal indictments against corrupt police officials were handed down. Commissioner
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and
Sergeant David Durk. The commission concluded that the NYPD had systematic corruption problems, and made a number of recommendations.
109:. The creation of the commission was largely a result of the publicity generated by the public revelations of police corruption made by
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at the WNYC Archives site courtesy of the Lloyd Sealy
Library Special Collection at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
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On June 15, 1972, Whitman Knapp, Chairman of the Knapp
Commission, was nominated as a federal judge for the
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The "Blue Wall of
Silence" as Evidence of Bias and Motive to Lie: A New Approach to Police Perjury.
167:) Serpico and Durk, testimony from dozens of other witnesses, including former Police Commissioner
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They Wished They Were Honest: The Knapp
Commission and New York City Police Corruption
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They Wished They Were Honest: The Knapp
Commission and New York City Police Corruption
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Fluffing Up the Evidence and Covering Your Ass: Some Conceptual Notes on Police Lying
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commanders should file periodic reports on key aspects that would breed corruption.
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field offices of the Internal Affairs division should be created at all precincts.
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In 1970, Mayor Lindsay appointed five members to serve on the Knapp Commission:
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commanders should be held accountable for their subordinates' actions.
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Forces of Deviance: Understanding the Dark Side of Policing.
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An Empirical Study of Police Deviance Other Than Corruption.
101:) was a five-member panel initially formed in April 1970 by
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Police Violence as a Function of Community Characteristics.
247:
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New York City Police Corruption Investigation Commissions.
340:
Journal of Police Science and Administration 6(3): 264-72.
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New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct
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New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct
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Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service
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undercover informants should be placed in all precincts.
558:"Crooked Cop, Now Jailhouse Lawyer, Seeks Parole at 74"
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improve screening and selection methods and standards.
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corruption within the New York City Police Department
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2004 Republican National Convention protest activity
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683:
91:
Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption
393:59 University of Pittsburgh Law Review 233 (1998).
366:The Knapp Commission Report on Police Corruption.
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425:Kappeler, V., R. Sluder & G. Alpert (1994).
462:Police Corruption: A Sociological Perspective.
455:Target Blue, An Insider's View of the N.Y.P.D.
669:
555:
524:
1221:Prospect Park alleged police sodomy incident
1053:Black Lives Matter protests in New York City
1018:1992 Patrolmen's Benevolent Association Riot
178:was chief counsel to the Knapp Commission.
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350:Barker, T. & D. Carter (Eds.) (1994).
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69:Learn how and when to remove this message
646:Audio from The Knapp Commission Hearings
580:
80:
32:This article includes a list of general
1318:Police Athletic League of New York City
992:Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York
640:Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections
491:"Police Corruption and Code of Silence"
441:Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections
399:Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing.
1358:
972:George Floyd protests in New York City
880:100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care
326:. New York: Columbia University Press
657:
568:from the original on February 8, 2017
429:Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
1371:1970 establishments in New York City
469:The Cutting Edge of Police Integrity
445:John Jay College of Criminal Justice
375:New York: William S. Hein & Co.
279:in Australia, held from 1994 to 1997
18:
838:Lower Manhattan Security Initiative
343:Barker, T. & D. Carter (1990).
13:
537:from the original on March 8, 2021
527:"Lindsay Appoints Corruption Unit"
418:Kania, R. & W. Mackey (1977).
313:
204:
38:it lacks sufficient corresponding
14:
1382:
1047:A Battle For The Soul of New York
926:Detectives' Endowment Association
611:
415:. New York: Simon & Schuster.
303:New York City Police Commissioner
158:Investigation and public hearings
1181:Beating and rape of Abner Louima
1128:Floyd v. City of New York (2013)
936:Sergeants Benevolent Association
556:Geoffrey Gray (March 28, 2005).
436:New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
234:"Grass Eaters" and "Meat Eaters"
23:
1063:Civilian Complaint Review Board
900:New York City Police Foundation
745:Crime Control Strategies Bureau
685:New York City Police Department
1013:1857 New York City Police riot
962:1988 Tompkins Square Park riot
775:Organized Crime Control Bureau
618:Official Frank Serpico website
587:Armstrong, Michael F. (2012).
549:
525:David Burnham (May 22, 1970).
518:
482:
1:
1201:Hollywood Stuntz gang assault
931:Police Benevolent Association
593:. Columbia University Press.
475:
347:. Deviant Behavior 11: 61-73.
229:a change in police attitudes.
195:Southern District of New York
182:served as associate counsel.
1291:Fictional portrayals of NYPD
1261:Killing of Timothy Stansbury
1118:Mollen Commision (1992-1993)
709:New York City Police Academy
447:(view upon appointment only)
397:DeLattre, E. (5th ed. 2006)
364:Braziller, G. (Ed.) (1972).
7:
1103:Hofstadter Committee (1931)
1098:Lexow Committee (1894-1895)
977:Murder of Russel Timoshenko
714:New York City Police Museum
464:Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.
368:New York: George Braziller.
258:
10:
1387:
1251:Killing of Ramarley Graham
1241:Killing of Eleanor Bumpurs
1231:Killing of Clifford Glover
495:Police and Law Enforcement
457:New York: Delacorte Press.
439:Knapp Commission Records,
401:Washington DC: AEI Press.
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982:New York City draft riots
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790:Special Operations Bureau
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603:– via Google Books.
503:10.4135/9781412994095.n10
93:(known informally as the
1211:Killing of Amadou Diallo
1186:Death of Michael Stewart
1123:Dirty thirty (1993-1995)
1068:Museum of Broken Windows
895:Housing Authority Police
853:Strategic Response Group
848:Special Victims Division
489:Rabe-Hemp, Cara (2011),
1246:Killing of Gidone Busch
1236:Killing of Edmund Perry
1146:Domain Awareness System
765:Internal Affairs Bureau
740:Counterterrorism Bureau
434:The Ethics of Policing.
411:Dershowitz, A. (1996).
111:Patrolman Frank Serpico
53:more precise citations.
16:Investigative committee
1281:9-1-1 Tapping Protocol
1216:Killing of Eric Garner
1206:Killing of Akai Gurley
1161:X-ray vans of the NYPD
1108:Knapp Commision (1970)
843:School Safety Division
828:Emergency Service Unit
780:Patrol Services Bureau
724:Real Time Crime Center
422:Criminology 15: 27-48.
371:Chin, G. (Ed.) (1997)
354:Cincinnati: Anderson.
86:
1226:Murder of Brian Moore
795:Transportation Bureau
497:, SAGE, p. 132,
467:Trautman, N. (1997).
103:Mayor John V. Lindsay
97:, after its chairman
84:
1256:Killing of Sean Bell
460:Sherman, L. (1974).
293:Political corruption
176:Michael F. Armstrong
1313:Police Commissioner
1196:Harlem riot of 1964
1191:Harlem riot of 1943
1156:Moroccan Initiative
760:Intelligence Bureau
336:Barker, T. (1978).
174:From 1970 to 1972,
134:(later replaced by
85:Judge Whitman Knapp
1151:Handschu agreement
1074:Pappas v. Giuliani
987:Occupy Wall Street
531:The New York Times
471:. FL: Ethics Inst.
432:Kleinig, J. (1996)
283:Fitzgerald Inquiry
180:Nicholas Scoppetta
147:Franklin A. Thomas
87:
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1058:Central Park Five
1026:
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858:Street Crime Unit
785:Peresonnel Bureau
719:NYPD 9th Precinct
704:240 Centre Street
600:978-0-231-15354-6
413:Reasonable Doubts
407:978-0-8447-4217-5
388:and Scott Wells,
381:978-1-57588-211-6
360:978-0-87084-714-1
288:Police corruption
272:Mollen Commission
187:Patrick V. Murphy
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1301:List of officers
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352:Police Deviance.
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199:Richard M. Nixon
142:Joseph Monserrat
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1032:Corruption/
890:FDNY Racing
152:Cyrus Vance
51:introducing
1360:Categories
1172:shootings/
1034:misconduct
692:Facilities
476:References
34:references
1333:The Shack
1170:Killings/
816:divisions
572:March 12,
1296:Launch 5
1286:CompStat
1174:beatings
566:Archived
541:April 9,
535:Archived
453:(1973).
386:Chin, G.
322:(2012).
259:See also
239:meat").
1274:Related
733:Bureaus
624:Serpico
266:Serpico
128:, chair
117:Members
47:improve
950:Events
814:Units/
631:
597:
509:
405:
379:
358:
330:
36:, but
248:pimps
629:IMDb
595:ISBN
574:2015
543:2020
507:ISBN
403:ISBN
377:ISBN
356:ISBN
328:ISBN
250:and
89:The
627:at
499:doi
1362::
564:.
560:.
533:.
529:.
505:,
493:,
443:,
201:.
1114:)
677:e
670:t
663:v
576:.
545:.
501::
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43:.
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