A cop friend of mine puts the number between 40 to 60%.
Even 5% would be WAY too high, but interesting you say 25%.
Why don’t cops self-police (pardon the term) the profession so you don’t all look like roid-raging lawless scumbag thugs just out to beat up “civilians”?
I guess I’d say that there are two things that contribute to the corruption level of a law enforcement agency:
1. Culture begins at the top. Leadership directly influences the attitudes and performance of the rank and file.
2. Type of agency tends to impact behavior of its component officers.
We used to have a saying: 90% of the contacts State Troopers deal with are hard-working folks going to and from work. 90% of the folks deputies deal with are going to and from committing a crime. As a result, you tend to have deputies be more hardened and jaded than Staties. Of course, there are exceptions on both sides.
USUALLY, small city cops are VERY decent and community-policing oriented. They know the people they are responsible for protecting and that a citizen complaint is likely to be taken very seriously.
No matter what the organization, bad leadership will poison it from top to bottom. Weak leadership too, if the officers begin to feel invincible because the department won’t stand up to the union.