In reply to Jim Fraser:
> (In reply to paul mitchell)
>
> Nobody will come close to eradicating improper conduct in a police force unless there is an independent prosecution authority with balls.
>
> I am not sure that we have that anywhere in the UK at the moment. The CPS certainly does not seem to fulfill that role in E & W. The COPFS should be able to fulfill that role in Scotland but unfortunately they've gone off the rails in recent times. First, the need to lick the FBI 4r5es at Camp Zeist, and more recently the dumbing down that has taken place in the name of standards and ECHR compliance, have taken the Crown Office in some strange directions.
You can't "eradicate" improper conduct unless you can change human nature. The police will always reflect society. Hopefully we can minimise it though.
It's always going to be a struggle, largely because each bad example is taken to be reflective of a greater malaise and also due to the "great" press that is guaranteed from spinning a story into an allegation of police corruption.
I'm not sure that the CPS can be blamed for failing to achieve guilty verdicts - when the "facts" as reported get exposed to the scrutiny of a courtroom, the story is often not quite as straightforward as a tabloid cliche would like us to believe.
As for the "dumbing down" in aid of the EHCR - that's what happens when you sign up to a defined set of human rights. The loss of the ability to detain and interview without a lawyer is a sad blow though...