In Britain, phone hacking sullies famed Scotland Yard

[UpInArms]

Source: Washington Post

But as the phone-hacking scandal here explodes, the bobbies of Scotland Yard are weathering their worst crisis in years, one that has portrayed some of the force’s highest-ranking officials as bumbling Keystone Kops and painted others as woefully corrupt beat cops willing to accept bribes in excess of $160,000 to pass on juicy tidbits to the press.

<snip>

The scandal centers on allegations that Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid for years used illegal methods for newsgathering, including passing fat envelopes of cash to officers and tapping into the private messages of thousands of British citizens, from crime victims to celebrities to members of the royal family.

<snip>

The scandal is laying bare the seedy world of British tabloid journalism and the pivotal role corrupt police officers have long played in it. Rebekah Brooks, the high-powered News Corp. executive who resigned Friday in the wake of the scandal, had testified in Parliament as early as 2003 that News of the World had paid police officers for information. The Met, however, says that since 2000, only two officers have been investigated for taking bribes from any British publication. And both were cleared of wrongdoing.

<snip>

“That was true especially with Diana,” McMullan said, referring to the late Princess of Wales. “We would get calls from our police contacts telling us what airport she was landing in, and who was with her. That kind of information was worth several thousand pounds.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-britain-phone-hacking-sullies-famed-scotland-yard/2011/07/16/gIQAJBqJII_story.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. And to believe the same Modus Operandi of institutionalized corruption wouldn't take place here

in the U.S. is taking a dangerous leap of faith.

“A few officers do things they shouldn’t, they are corruptible, and that is not shocking whether it’s the NYPD or the Met police,” said Tim Newburn, professor of criminology at the London School of Economics. “But what we will discover from the inquiry now is how and whether this was being managed higher up the chain of command, about a failure to act. The judge will be asking some quite searching and very difficult questions.”

I also believe the power ranking of "corruptible police officers" is inverse to the number required to reach the desired, corrupted ends.

Thanks for the thread, UpInArms.

[EFerrari]

2. Scotland Yard is looking a lot like the FBI.

Do you remember the story about their organized cheating on the test covering domestic spying?


FBI Test Scandal Explodes: Investigation Finds Widespread Cheating On Domestic Spying Exam


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/27/cheaters-fbi-test-scandal_n_740146.html

[Downwinder]

3. On top of the Tomlinson and de Menezes killings and the taxi rapist

the famed should be changed to infamous.

[PaulaFarrell]

4. Small point

but Scotland Yard does not have 'bobbies on the beat'

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. It's a common phrase for the Met Police

Even if New Scotland Yard doesn't have actual uniformed constables based in it (I have no idea), 'Scotland Yard' is used to describe the Met by the Met itself, and 'bobbies' refers to 'police' generally anyway (even if it is hardly used in the UK any more).

[SaveAmerica]

6. NY Times News Alert said "Taint From Tabloids Rubs Off on a Cozy Scotland Yard" Ha Ha!!