Joseph D. McNamara

Joseph D. McNamara argues in the following viewpoint that the number of police corruption cases nationwide is rising due to public pressure to reduce crime. He asserts that police departments have developed an “anything goes” attitude as they strive to apprehend suspects and establish winnable cases against them. Recent corruption cases have led to greater self-scrutiny by police departments, McNamara contends, but, he warns, public trust will not be restored until police departments stop tolerating and covering up corruption. McNamara, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, is the retired police chief of San Jose.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to McNamara, what crime is a New Orleans cop accused of?
2. What kind of corruption did the FBI uncover in its own ranks?
3. What does the...