title: Police corruption

text: Bribing police officers is common in Greece. Citizens may offer the police monetary sums as a way of avoiding getting a ticket or in order to obtain a drivers license. 96% of Greek citizens believe that this is an acceptable practice and 93% believe that it is the easiest way of obtaining public services. The Hellenic Police Internal Affairs Unit has investigated cases of corruption among police, including police acceptance of bribes from traffickers. Human trafficking has become a more prominent issue in the realm of police bribery in recent times. Particularly as the state is an optimum destination for those seeking asylum, due to its many small islands and borders being difficult to patrol. It is not unusual for Greek police to provide fake documentation and plane tickets to illegal immigrants. A trafficker's circuit was discovered in the Santorini police department as recently as June 2015. It was reported that airline employees contacted the local police, concerned about passengers who may be travelling to European countries using forged documents. However, the police performed only rudimentary checks, and permitted the migrants to board the flights. According to the US Department of State 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report, police also recently dismantled a sex trafficking ring involving two police officers, who were then suspended from duty.


title: Police corruption

text: Greece is a member of the European Partners Against Corruption (EPAC). It is housed in Greece within the Hellenic Police Internal Affairs division, established in 1999 and has 120 staff. The National Strategic Reference Framework has also put forth €340,000 to fund "transparency and anti-corruption for good governance in public administration-police" seminars. The program will be made available to graduates of the Police Officers Academy of Greece. However, only 14% of Greeks believe that the government's efforts to combat corruption are effective. Furthermore, unlike other member states, the amount of corruption in Greece has increased rather than decreased, with its global ranking falling from 80th in 2011 to 94th in 2012. This is likely because of the states financial difficulties. Data collected by the Greek anti-corruption task-force in 2012 showed that corruption in the state had spiked, with 1,060 cases investigated – a 33% increase on 2011. Moreover, 710 (or 66.9%) of these were concerned with police officers.


title: Police corruption

text: Hungarian criminologist Geza Finszter has named Hungary a fundamentally dishonest society. Due to this, real justice is nearly impossible to achieve. Government operations are not transparent. This leads to corruption which is reflected in many aspects of its society, including politicians, judges, and the police force. Police force corruption affects the criminal investigators who, have a greater amount of exposure to corruption than others. They are paid poorly, allowing well endowed criminals to corrupt them. This corruption in the lower level of the police is not the biggest problem when it comes to police corruption in Hungary.


title: Police corruption

text: In the National police Organised Crime Division, high-ranking officers, with possible underworld ties can choose to proceed or halt sensitive operations. In short if an investigation runs the risk of exposing political or other types of corruption they tend to more often than not be shut down without much delay. According to Transparency International, many state run institutions in Hungary are directed by government loyalists allowing for an easy spread of corruption. It was also found that when it came to reporting corruption in Hungary, 70% of the population would not report instances of corruption due to a mistrust of authorities and a fear of the consequences for doing so. Transparency International claims that the government discourages its citizens when it comes to reporting corruption as no adequate protection measures have been implemented to help whistle blowers.


title: Police corruption

text: Due to Hungary's geographical position that is bordering the former Yugoslavia and, its political history it has become a major crossroads for the transportation of narcotics between Asia and Western Europe. According to the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2007, Hungarian border control and narcotics police seem to be tackling and resisting corruption to an extent. The report showed that education of border police was making some difference when it came to the issue of corruption. Contrary to this however it would appear when it comes to prosecuting high-profile cases involving organised crime, including drug trafficking, sentences tend to be lenient. It would appear that corruption is systematic and prevalent through the entirety of the Hungarian Criminal Justice system reaching as high as Judges and, not just its police force. After being ranked in the bottom third of countries when it comes to corruption, and when looking at the ineffectiveness of the new anti corruption laws that have been put in place it is all too clear that corruption seems to be an accepted practice in Hungary's police force at least for the foreseeable future.


title: Police corruption

text: Italy ranks at the same level or below eastern European countries in the Corruption Perception rating.


title: Police corruption

text: The Italian Police Force is difficult to monitor in terms of corruption due to its decentralised nature. There are four different branches of the Italian policing system, broken up into the Carabinieri, the State Police, the Local Police and the Guardia di Finanza. Due to the delegation of responsibilities between the branches it is the case that monitoring all of them with one centralised and independent body becomes extremely logistical and difficult. The Guardia di Finanza is charged with the responsibility of regulating all financial dealings, within and outside of Italy. It can be seen, therefore, that this branch of the national police force may need the most attention and regulation, due to their constant dealings with money.


title: Police corruption

text: Kazakhstan ranks below many countries in the Corruption Perception Index. Official statistics of corruption charges within the police show 203 in 2014, 307 in 2017, and 165 in 2019. These campaign-style zigzagging trends are still minuscule considering the scale of police bribe-taking in Kazakhstan. The International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) reported that in a one-year period (June 2017–May 2018), 5.2% of Kazakhstanis were victims of official bribe-seeking and in almost half of these cases the bribe-seeker was a police officer. Taking only the adult population of Kazakhstan into account, the ICVS police bribery figures suggest around 400,000 incidents of police bribery every year in Kazakhstan. These calculations are most likely very conservative in that they only capture when a bribe has been solicited and exclude instances of citizen-initiated bribery.


title: Police corruption

text: Police corruption in Latvia is more prevalent than it is in other EU states. According to Transparency International, Latvia has a Corruption Perception Index score of 4.9 out of ten, indicating a high level of perceived corruption. Particularly concerning is that the judiciary and police received high scores (out of five) for public perceptions of corruption, being 3.2 and 3.3 respectively. Political parties and the legislature received scores of 4 and 3.7.


title: Police corruption

text: Police and customs have been identified as corruption hotspots in Latvia, with a majority (58%) of Latvians regarding it as widespread. In particular, road police has one of the lowest ratings for perceived honesty and integrity and is considered more corrupt than any other government institution. This stems from the common practice of demanding bribes, for example at traffic stops. In these situations a person has little option other than to pay the bribe (and thus avoid a fine or more severe penalty). The motivations for corruption are not entirely clear. Public officials point to low salaries, which may explain a significant proportion of bribery incidents. However, other public institutions, such as the postal service, have significantly lower salaries than police or customs, yet much lower rates of bribery and corruption. Since 2000, highway police are not allowed to levy on-the-spot fines, which is likely to reduce the incidence of bribery in that context.


title: Police corruption

text: Latvia began developing an anti-corruption policy in 1995, culminating in the Corruption Preventing and Combatting Bureau (KNAB – Korupcijas novēršanas un apkarošanas birojs) in 2002. KNAB is a multi-purpose anti-corruption body whose functions include investigating corruption offences, controlling activities of public officials and education and training on corruption risk. This is the most common example of a single-body approach to anti-corruption policy, with similar bodies existing in Hong Kong (on which KNAB is based) and Australia. KNAB operates as a pre-trial investigation body, with authority to refer matters to the public prosecutor. It has a broad jurisdiction, though most of its cases involve bribery offences. In 2001, a high-profile corruption case emerged when the then Deputy Chief of the Economic Police was arrested for receiving a bribe in an attempt to prevent the investigation of a smuggling and tax evasion case.


title: Police corruption

text: Latvia is a relatively new Member state of the European Union, having only joined in 2004. A recent survey found that people in new member state countries, especially Latvia, agree that bribery is the easiest way of obtaining certain public services than those in the original EU states. In 1998, a survey posed the following question to Latvian households: "A system whereby people could anonymously report instances of corruption would not be successful because corruption is a natural part of our lives and helps solve many problems". Only 37% of respondents disagreed with the statement. Additionally, Latvia has one of the lowest reporting rates for corruption in the EU, and most Latvians do not believe the government's anti-corruption efforts are likely to be successful.


title: Police corruption

text: Police corruption in Lithuania was considered to be prevalent in a 2002 study by OSI, a liberal NGO funded by the controversial billionaire George Soros. Corruption is considered to be a widespread issue in Lithuanian society in general, occurring during interactions in both the private and public sectors. Two thirds of people in Lithuania prosecuted for corruption related offences between 1995 and 1998 were police officers. In 2002 the Lithuanian Police Department admitted that they were aware of the high levels of corruption within the force. Despite this, some progress to combat police corruption in Lithuania has been made by 2002.


title: Police corruption

text: The Police Department of the Ministry of Interior is the national police agency of Lithuania. The Criminal Police Bureau and the Public Police Bureau are additional, separate agencies. The Criminal Police Bureau consists of various departments, including, but not limited to, the Organised Crime Investigation Services. The Public Police Bureau also has numerous departments, including, but not limited to, the Preventive Service and Traffic Control Service. The Traffic Control Service is considered to be one of the most corrupt criminal justice bodies in Lithuania.


title: Police corruption

text: Prior to 2002, Traffic Control officers used to be empowered to issue on the spot fines far greater than their own salaries. As such, a common form of police corruption was known to occur where members of the public bribe traffic officers to avoid receiving expensive fines. This particular power was one explanation to the high levels of police corruption specific to the Traffic Control Service. By 2002 the police force had put into place measures to prevent such corruption, including disciplinary measures that in extreme cases can lead to dismissal from service.


title: Police corruption

text: Lithuanian government's stance against police corruption is evident through its creation of anti-corruption bodies as well as its introduction of various legislative measures. In the opinion of the BBC, targeting police corruption in Lithuania was connected to the country's accession to the European Union in May 2004. Application and entrance to the EU saw Lithuania introduce numerous anti-corruption measures.


title: Police corruption

text: Lithuania's anti-corruption system is considered compliant to the UN Convention against Corruption to which it signed in 2003 and ratified in 2006.


title: Police corruption

text: Compliance is met through Lithuania's anti-corruption legal framework as well as the Special Investigation Service that is considered an independent anti-corruption law enforcement body.


title: Police corruption

text: The Special Investigative Services (SIS) is an independent national Lithuanian anti corruption body formed in 1997. In 2008 SIS was rated second, after the media, as the most effective anti corruption measure in Lithuania (by whom?).


title: Police corruption

text: Previously SIS was a subordinate of the Ministry of Interior however in 2000 it became an independent agency. The SIS' responsibilities range from solving and preventing corruption, to developing Lithuania's anti corruption strategy. Any member of the public can report potential cases of corruption to SIS.


title: Police corruption

text: Established in 1998, the Internal Investigation Service (IIS) is an internal police department that performs legal monitoring and is tasked with enforcing disciplinary sanctions when necessary. The IIS can investigate the actions of individual officers. The IIS reports to one of the Deputy Commissioner Generals and has the ability to investigate cases of police corruption.


title: Police corruption

text: As well as the Internal Investigation Service, the Immunity Service is responsible for preventing and investigating corruption within the Lithuanian police force. The Immunity Service reports to the Commissioner General of the Police.


title: Police corruption

text: Despite these measures, the issue of police corruption in Lithuania continues to be prevalent. The Special Eurobarometer 397 report on corruption found that 63% of Lithuanian respondents believed corruption within the police or customs to be widespread. Lithuania's levels of police force corruption can be deemed particularly high when compared to other European Union states. The police force was considered to be the most trusted of all institutions in the majority of European Union member states; however, Lithuania was one of three exemptions to this (along with Latvia and Croatia).


title: Police corruption

text: The success of Lithuania's anti-corruption methods has been difficult to measure. This was a main criticism made in a 2014 report by the European Commission measuring Lithuania's implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Whilst Lithuania has put appropriate anti-corruption measures in place, the success of such measures is difficult to measure due to limited disclosure of statistics and further limited public release as to how such anti corruption institutions work in practice.


title: Police corruption

text: To form a balanced view of corruption in Lithuania, more comparative data would be required focusing on the Lithuanian SSR, the interwar Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania in the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Lithuania. Corruption perception might or might mot not be a valid measure of corruption, for example, underestimating corruption in countries (such as France, Germany, Italy or the United Kingdom) which have considerably less press freedom (as exemplified by the World Press Freedom Index).


title: Police corruption

text: Luxembourg is fundamentally a transparent, and incorrupt country. This reflects within the actions of their public service personnel, including their police force. The European Union's 2014 Anti Corruption report placed Luxembourg, along with Denmark and Finland, as having the lowest experiences of bribery in the European Union. Luxembourg was ranked in a 2013 report as being the 11th (out of 177) best country in regards to their perceived level of corruption existing in their public sectors. A perception survey published in 2013 suggested that 94% of respondents had not witnessed corruption in that past year and 92% of respondents did not feel that they had been affected by corruption in every day life.


title: Police corruption

text: The results of these reports and perception surveys suggest that whilst there is instances of corruption within Luxembourg, the country's assessment by the European Union suggests that mechanisms exist to combat these instances and promote ethical behaviour on the part of public officials. Whilst Luxembourg lacks a specific anti corruption strategy, soft law instruments such as the quasi-legal instruments of organisations like the European Union, inform judicial bodies and government officials when prosecuting. In recent years, their Anti Corruption framework has had a particular focus on efficient control of public institutions such as police and government bodies to avoid anti corrupt behaviours in these sectors. Criminal law was last amended in 2011 to accommodate anti-corruption legislation, although the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) recommended in August 2014 that more reform needed to implemented to modify their criminal policy framework (due to gaps in legislation regarding foreign bribery offences). Positively, an inter-ministerial committee, the Corruption Prevention Committee, was established in 2007 and meets annually, which shows a conscious effort on behalf of the country to keep anti corruption mechanisms on the forefront. A hotline has also been established which is run by Transparency International in Luxembourg. This hotline is an avenue for members of the public to submit claims of corruption and is a useful anti corruption mechanism employed by Luxembourg.


title: Police corruption

text: The Malta Police Force (MPF) is the main law enforcement authority in Malta. It is the responsibility of the MPF to "preserve public order and peace, to prevent, detect and investigate offences, to collect evidence", and to ultimately bring the offenders before the court. Further, the MPF obtains the duty of maintaining efforts in investigating the abuse of police power and undertakings of corrupt activity.


title: Police corruption

text: Unfortunately, for the Maltese community, it is common practice that there is a "code of silence" within the MPF, where an officer may "turn a blind eye" to the misconduct performed by their fellow officer. Typically, this behaviour is customary regardless of the severity of the consequence, as it heightens the likelihood of the corrupt officer reciprocating assistance, trust and support when needed.


title: Police corruption

text: Whilst over one-third of Maltese citizens believe that the MPF engage in police corruption, particularly acts of bribery and abuse of their legitimate power, this figure has significantly reduced from 2014. A nations corruption level can be determined through the "Corruption Perception Index" (CPI). The CPI ranks countries on how corrupt their public sector is perceived by the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. Malta's CIP is 5.7 out of ten, which indicates Malta is 54% better than the average. This achievement can be seen as an outcome of the Maltese Government initiating various preventive bodies and relevant legislation.


title: Police corruption

text: The "Economic Crime Unit of the Malta Police Force" was initiated in 1987, and is primarily involved in investigating and detecting a variety of corruption offences, including smuggling, fraud and bribery. The MPF and the Police Commissioner initiate all prosecutions in Malta. Thus, to ensure legitimacy across all prosecutions, the MPF are required to adhere to disciplinary rules and are bound by a Code of Ethics. Additionally, chapter 164 of the "Maltese Police Act" 1961 regulates the organisation, discipline and duties of the Malta Police Force. Specifically, section 7 of Article 33 Offences Against Discipline, provides a comprehensive list of activities undertaken by a member of the MPF that are considered to be "corrupt practices". Such "corrupt practices" include, but are not limited to: receiving any bribe; failing to promptly return any money or property received; improperly using their position as a police officer for "private advantage"; or, directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gratuity without the consent of the Commissioner.


title: Police corruption

text: As corrupt practices are considered to be a serious punitive offence within Malta, if a member of the public submits a complaint regarding a minor corruption practice of a police officer, the "Internal Affairs Unit" will investigate. Alternatively, where allegations regard serious police corruption offences, the "Economic Crime Unit" will intervene, investigate and may consequently initiate criminal proceedings. However, from 1998, there have been few cases of police officers charged with corruption offences, consisting of five bribery prosecutions and six unlawful arrest cases.


title: Police corruption

text: To further ensure societal security from police corruption, the "Permanent Commission Against Corruption" (PCAC) was established in 1988. The PCAC entirely deals with investigations for alleged or suspected police corruption practices. The PCAC comprises one chairman, and two members who are selected by the Malta President and act on advice of the Prime Minister. Article 4 of Chapter 326 "Permanent Commission Against Corruption Act" 1988 highlights the functions of the commission, these include: considering and investigating alleged or suspected corrupt practices; investigating "the conduct of any public officer"; investigating "any person who is/has been entrusted with functions relating to the administration of a partnership where the Government has a controlling interest" and the Commission believes such conduct may be corrupt; investigating "practices and procedures of government departments where the Government has a controlling interest to facilitate the discovery of any corrupt practices"; and, to "instruct, advise and assist ministers who are entrusted with the administration of government departments where the government has a controlling interest on ways in which corrupt practices could be eliminated". Reports of the commission's findings are then submitted to the Minister of Justice.


title: Police corruption

text: During the mid 1990s, widespread police corruption in Poznan became heavily publicized in newspaper reports, which lead to an investigation by central authorities. Poland's police chief and his deputy offered to resign after being implicated in the newspaper reports. The investigation and the deputy minister of internal affairs at the time stated that there were breaches of duties by police and it was found there were certain discrepancies in police operations. However, the deputy vouched that there was no actual evidence of corruption. Nevertheless, the public remained distrustful of Poland's institutions and towards the end of 1997, the minister of internal affairs and administration admitted that corruption was still a pervasive issue in the police force. Additionally, there are reports that Poland's traffic police engaged in bribery during the 1990s.


title: Police corruption

text: Transparency International is a global non-governmental organisation that provides oversight of corruption in the corporate and political sphere and publishes comprehensive reports annually. It tracks public opinion on corruption with the Global Corruption Barometer while the Corruption Perceptions Index derives its rankings of perceived levels of corruption from both public opinion surveys and expert assessments. Despite Poland being marked at a moderate level, it greatly falls behind its European counterparts such as Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway who are all consistently in the top 10 countries with the lowest perceived levels of corruption. As of 2014, Poland currently holds a ranking of 35 out of 175 countries, marking an almost decade long improvement in both score and ranking in the Index. The steady improvement can be attributed to the Poland's efforts to combat corruption over the last decade with the establishment of the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) in 2006, their participation in the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 2000 and the subsequent slow adoption of anti-corruption policies.


title: Police corruption

text: However, over the last decade or so, there have been limited reports on Polish police corruption, which indicates that it is possibly underreported, as corruption is difficult to detect and measure due to its deceptive, hidden nature. Additionally, there is currently no specific legislation to protect whistleblowers. The CBA has training courses, which encourage officers to identify corruption but there is a fear of retribution given the lack of legal protection. Furthermore, it is evident from reports and surveys that the population of Poland and the European Commission are still concerned with the issue of corruption throughout Poland's public institutions, including the police department. It is noted that Poland has made considerable progress towards the eradication of corruption, however, there is a compelling need to increase these efforts and implement necessary reforms.


title: Police corruption

text: The CBA specialises in the investigation of public officials and legal entities suspected of misconduct and fraudulent behaviour but do not wield the ability to prosecute defendants. Therefore, in order to be effective, the CBA exchanges information or evidence to the public prosecutors who possess executive powers. Moreover, this division of the Polish government has a responsibility that extends from the detection of corruption to crime prevention. In order to reduce the occurrence of corruption, the CBA conducts preventive and educational activities with the assistance of non-governmental organisations and financial support from the European Union. The efforts to remove corruption have pushed Poland to increase international cooperation as global networking can result in the pooling and exchange of resources and knowledge. The Bureau currently has obtained permission from Poland's Prime Minister to cooperate with 50 other countries and 11 international organisations to tackle corruption on both a national and global scale.


title: Police corruption

text: The CBA continues to pursue its anti-corruption goal with its latest project, "Rising of the Anticorruption Training System", whereby over the course of three years from 2013 – 2015, the CBA has been working closely with specialised law enforcements of Lithuania and Latvia. The project also consists of international anti-corruption training conferences whereby notable countries such as Norway and Denmark are able to share their high standard practices with Poland. Additionally, the project has also taken advantage of technology by launching an e-learning platform that is equipped with anti-corruption education tools and online activities. The online platform is a training course designed to educate the general public and Polish working in both the government and business sectors. The key objective of this online platform is to provide an easily accessible set of educational tools that increases public awareness of corruption and informs the necessary steps to assist with its prevention and detection.


title: Police corruption

text: The European Commission provides a report on the level of corruption in each Member State and details the strengths and weaknesses of their anti-corruption policies. In the 2014 report on Poland, the European Commission has acknowledged Poland's efforts but criticizes Poland's successive governments for not appropriately prioritising the fight against corruption. For instance, Poland has had difficulty establishing anti-corruption policies with its last one having expired in 2009. It was only after a few years of domestic and international pressure did the Polish government conduct consultations on a draft 2014-2019 Programme.


title: Police corruption

text: Similar to the CPI, the European Commission conducts perception surveys and in 2013 found that 82% of Polish respondents believe corruption is prevalent in Poland and that 15% of Polish respondents have encountered bribery over the past 12 months.


title: Police corruption

text: The European Commission also has some reservations over the CBA, suggesting that the CBA may be negatively influenced by politics due to its strong political ties with powerful government officials including the Prime Minister. The European Commission report has suggested that safeguards against politicization of the CBA should be strengthened with transparent and impartial recruitment processes. In addition, the report suggests that Poland needs to enact a long-term strategy against corruption to ensure successive governments remain committed to anti-corruption efforts


title: Police corruption

text: Transparency International and the Institute of Public Affairs publishes the National Integrity System Assessment (NIS) for each country listing whereby it evaluates the capabilities of the country's key institutions to hinder the prevalence of corruption. According to the 2012 assessment, Transparency International notes that Poland has achieved a fairly satisfactory outcome and that corruption is not as problematic as it was during the mid 1990s after the collapse of Communism. Additionally, Poland's joining of the European Union in 2004 has placed expectations on Poland to improve the integrity of their political and corporate affairs. During 2002–2005, Poland is noted for implementing legal changes that extends punishment of corruption in Poland's Criminal Code. However, the assessment highlights that corruption in Poland is still a concern and must be addressed. The assessment asserts that a key component of Poland's relatively slow and small improvements in dealing with corruption is the lack of commitment from Poland's decision makers as there have been several unsuccessful attempts to launch a comprehensive anti-corruption policy. NIS suggests that nepotism and cronyism is still prevalent in the political and corporate sphere, which provides a tolerant setting for corruption. The assessment also takes into consideration Poland's Corruption Perception Index, highlighting that the public's distrust of public entities and the difficulty to establish effective anti-corruption policies has discouraged Poland's decision makers to improve public relations.


title: Police corruption

text: Portugal is recognized within the area of police corruption for its somewhat unsuccessful attempts in combating the ever-increasing images of corruption within governance and policing, through legislation. Though the ability for police services to protect individuals from crime is high and the mechanisms set in place to combat police corruption are extensive, citizens confidence in police integrity is very low.


title: Police corruption

text: In accordance with Portugal's Criminal Code, the Unlawful Receiving of an Advantage can result in imprisonment for 3–5 years. Delving further, the Criminal Code also stipulates that Passive Corruption (conducted through an intermediary) and Active Corruption (conducted directly) can receive 1–8 years imprisonment. Though there are minimal cases of police corruption occurring with this added legislation, Portuguese citizen's views on police corruption are in conflict, and the implementation of such administration appears non-existent.


title: Police corruption

text: Coming under the global microscope in 2007 for their efforts in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the Portuguese police force were heavily criticised and compared for their responses and actions after the abduction. In light of this, Portugal's policing system was opened up to international critique, and many shortfalls were found in its governance and follow through of crime and criminal activity. Explanations for this inability to follow through and effectively punish offenders are varied, with heavy correlations built between trust within legal and political institutions. By the mid-1990s, moralisation within parliamentary procedures became highly controversial with voters remaining tolerant of unethical behaviour during a lack of response shown by parties to their electorate. This build in transparency and lack of trust run alongside Portuguese citizen's understanding of government as well as the current police force.


title: Police corruption

text: The 2012 Transparency International report found that Portugal ranked 33rd in the list of nations facing high levels of corruption within its borders. Looking at national surveys, police corruption was seen as a part of everyday life, with Portuguese citizens accosted with daily reports of scandals in government, crimes that go unpunished, and obstacles within everyday investigations. Further survey's conducted amongst citizens found a general consensus in which 75% of individuals agreed that governmental efforts to combat corruption are ineffective, and maintained a below average trust of police officials.


title: Police corruption

text: In comparison to fellow nations within the European Union, Portugal has also seen a recent spike in social unrest surrounding the inability to trust police, with figures showing individuals believing police to be corrupt to have spiked. Larger bodies such as the UN and GRECO have placed recommendations to adapt the Criminal Code and develop a more detailed understanding of the responsibilities of policing officials in order to combat this. In accordance, the Portuguese Parliament has enacted a law as of 22 April 2015, where specifications were made on the corruption of international trade, sports activity, and bribery, with special attention to the protection of whistle-blowers in corruption related matters. The implementation of this into everyday Portuguese life however, is yet to be seen.


title: Police corruption

text: Over the past century Romania has experienced political instability, including dictatorships, Soviet government control, and monarchies. It is a constitutional democracy. Instability often leads to corruption, and historically, a clear link has existed between countries with government corruption and countries with police corruption. Romania is no exception.


title: Police corruption

text: According to Transparency International, 87% of people feel that from 2007 to 2010 the level of corruption in Romania increased after joining the EU in 2007, and 83% feel that their government's efforts to fight corruption are ineffective. On a scale of 1-5 (with 1 being not at all corrupt and 5 being extremely corrupt), Romanians rated both their political parties and their parliament and legislature as 4.5, and their police 3.9. This is relatively high for the European Union especially compared to countries such as Denmark who scored 2.8 for political parties, 2.3 for parliament and legislature and only a 2 for police. Another alarming statistic is that 28% of people in Romania reported paying a bribe in 2010.


title: Police corruption

text: There are two main Anti-Corruption Bodies in Romania; the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) and the National Integrity Agency (NIA). The former was created for "discovering, investigating and indicting high and medium level corruption cases" whilst the latter aims to "ensure the performance of public dignities and positions in conditions of impartiality, integrity and transparency". Since 2011 the NIA has also been a member of the European Partners against Corruption (EPAC) who are, among their many roles, the authorities responsible for corruption in regard to the national police.


title: Police corruption

text: Anti-fraud organizations have experienced fraud. In February 2015, the DNA prosecutors detained Ionut Vartic, the head of the Suceava Fight against Fraud Department (DLAF) for having used confidential information for private interests. Then, in March 2015, Horia Georgescu, director of Romania's NIA, was arrested on corruption charges. This news followed only days after Darius Valcov, the Romanian finance minister resigned after being accused of accepting £1.4 million in bribes when he was a town mayor. Both maintain their innocence but the cases do nothing to help Romania's reputation as "one of the EU's most corrupt states".


title: Police corruption

text: Yet Romania desires to gain admission into Europe's passport-free Schengen zone and thus is at least appearing to make an effort to reduce local and political crime and corruption. Romania is under enormous pressure from the European Commission to deal with their "graft culture" at the risk of losing EU aid funds. Official data revealed in the year of 2009 alone, six magistrates, 22 police officers and five fiscal inspectors had been convicted of bribery on the grounds of having received bribes of between 100 and 45,000 euros. While most civilians denounce the government for the current state of police immorality in Romania, those from above blame the police forces for deliberately failing to produce evidence in court that would allow successful prosecution of corrupt businessmen and politicians.


title: Police corruption

text: In February 2015, Monica Iacob Ridzi, Romania's former sports and youth minister, was sentenced to five years in prison for abusing her position, overspending public money, illegally contracting private companies for goods and services and of trying to delete allegedly incriminating e-mails.


title: Police corruption

text: Adam Clark, a journalist for the World Post, claims that Romania is "violently using its police forces against its own people". Given the state of corruption in Romania's government and anti-fraud agencies this is not surprising. This statement is supported by Jennifer Baker from Revolution News who reported on the violence used by riot police to suppress anti-corruption protestors in Bucharest following the passing of legislation that immunized the political class from corruption charges, criminalized critical speech, and criminalized demonstrations against government persecution. She states that protestors were accusing the police of protecting thieves. Furthermore, she reported that people living in villages where Chevron (an American multinational energy corporation) is searching for shale gas "were beaten in their houses" by riot police and were "arrested at random"


title: Police corruption

text: There are hundreds of cases in the European Court of Human Rights to indicate police brutality and corruption in Romania. Even smaller cases such as the Case of Ciorcan and others v. Romania demonstrate police violence and racism. In this case twenty-five Roma were reportedly injured and/or shot when a team of Special Forces officers arrived in Apalin to arrest two men and claimed they were attacked by locals. The court found that "the authorities deployed a grossly excessive force" to summon two men who were "not known as dangerous or armed" and all "for the investigation of a minor crime" especially given this summons could have been delivered through the post. The court also noted that there had been several attacks on this particular neighbourhood leading to suspicion of racially motivated violence on part of the police force. There are many similar cases all of which demonstrate the frequency and damaging nature of police corruption in Romania, which often appears to be not only initiated but protected by the Romanian Government.


title: Police corruption

text: According to corruption watchdog Transparency International, Slovakia is the 17th most corrupt state within Europe and the 59 (out of 178) most corrupt state in the world. There has been heavy criticism of Slovakia for having corrupt political and justice systems. In particular, the Gorilla scandal led to a series of protests aimed at ending top-level government corruption.


title: Police corruption

text: In comparison to its neighbours, Slovakia has relatively little corruption within its police force and they are instead assigned the task of breaking the cycle of corruption in other official bodies. The police force consists of a special anti-corruption department, a specialized criminal court on corruption and special prosecution units. There are a series of laws in Slovakia in the Penal Code which aim to prohibit corruption within all areas of Slovakian society. The Strategy of Crime and Prevention in the Slovak Republic (2007-2010) was also created to establish an Anti-Corruption Strategy. Within the EU Anti-Corruption Report (2014), the European Commission noted that there were many structural weaknesses in promoting the rule of law whilst Transparency International "considered the police force to be among the weakest institutions in Slovakia". This indicates the police force faces challenges in fighting corruption.


title: Police corruption

text: The inefficiencies of the police force in Slovakia would suggest that a certain level of corruption exists within its own structure. The Slovak Republic requested the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development to complete diagnostic surveys of corruption in Slovakia. Surveys were conducted in households, enterprises and public offices and the results between the three survey groups showed similarities. They all agreed that the health system, the justice system, customs, the National Property Fund and the police were corrupt. Within police corruption, the surveys found that traffic police were the ones to be held accountable for the most corruption. From 388 household respondents, 37% claimed to have paid a bribe to a police officer at least once, while 19% claimed to have done so several times. Moreover, the United States Department of State Country Report on Slovakia found that they were 11 serious cases of police corruption in 2011. The most common form of police corruption within Slovakia is the extortion of bribes, which predominantly occurs at traffic stops.


title: Police corruption

text: The low rate of police corruption in Slovakia – besides the traffic police – suggests that the extensive laws against corruption act as a deterrent for police officers. While the level of the corruption within the justice system in Slovakia remains quite high, corruption in the police force remains somewhat confined to traffic police and their extortion of minor bribes.


title: Police corruption

text: Contemporary concerns about police corruption are largely reflected by public opinion, which demonstrate widespread consensus that corruption within all public sectors is a "very big problem" in Slovenia. The 2013 Special Eurobarometer on Corruption showed that 76% (the second highest percentage in the EU) of Slovenian participants believed there had been an increase in corruption in the last three years. Furthermore, public opinion suggests that police corruption in particular is a significant issue, which much concern over bribery, and abuse of power for personal gain amongst Slovenian police officers.


title: Police corruption

text: Initially, Slovenian legislation did not provide for corruption as a separate offence distinguished from other forms of crime. Corruption is not used as a legal term in Slovenia, instead, the legislation provides for each offence individually as a criminal act. The Prevention of Corruption Act, adopted in 2004, defines corruption as "ever trespassing of the obligated treatment of official or responsible subject in the private or public sector, as well as the treatment of subjects that are initiators of violators, or subjects that can benefit from the violations". Changes within the organisation of policing in Slovenia were brought about initially by the 1991 Constitution, in line with political changes towards a more democratic system with a greater sensitivity towards human rights. These changes, along with the birth of the Constitutional court to enforce these, brought about strict limitations on powers of police to search and seize, as well as more emphasis on the protection of privacy and fundamental rights in criminal proceedings. The judicial control over police powers was further strengthened in the Police Act of 1998, later reinforced by the New Organisation and Work of the Police Act 2013. These acts provide specifically for instances of police corruption. Additionally, the 2013 act allowed an individual to file a direct complaint against a police officer if they thought the act, or failure to act, of the officer violated human rights or fundamental freedoms.


title: Police corruption

text: Following the cases of Rehblock v Slovenia (2000) and Matko v Slovenia (2006), a department for the prosecution of officials with special authorisations was established, which removed any police involvement in the investigation of other officers suspected of committing criminal offences. Since this recent introduction, there has been increased investigation and action taken for police offenders. In 2011, the department conducted 80 investigations, out of which 19 police officers were dismissed as a result of the suspicion of them committing a criminal offence.


title: Police corruption

text: Lobinkar & Mesko (2015) found that within a sample of 550 Slovenian police officers, 23.6% agreed that covering up a police DUI was 'not all that serious'. Additionally, 34% of respondents claimed that they would not report another police officer who had engaged in conduct such as receiving free meals, gifts from merchants, police DUI and verbal abuse. While this study demonstrated a trend in Slovenian police officers to ignore less serious forms of police corruption, there is agreement (59.1-75%) that police integrity within the Slovenian police work environment is generally high.


title: Police corruption

text: Within the wider context of the European Union, corruption continues to be an economic burden. Aside from the consequences within each member state, corruption reduces levels of investment, obstructs the fair operation of the Internal Market and has a negative impact on public finances. It is estimated that approximately 1% of the EU GDP is made up of economic costs incurred by corruption. Specifically, an estimated los of 1.5 and 2% of the Slovenian GDP is incurred as a result of corruption. Slovenia has administered substantial improvements to their legal framework to address the issue of police corruption among Central and Eastern European Member States. However, issues with the effective enforcement of these anti-corruption measures still remain, due to "weak control mechanisms" administered by the government. Lobinkar & Mesko's 2015 survey demonstrates a high level of police integrity strictly connected to the 'code of silence' in the police community. Therefore, anti-corruption strategies related to changing perceptions and moral beliefs about the seriousness of corruptive police conduct may be the most effective at improving Slovenia's anti-corruption enforcement.


title: Police corruption

text: Jamal Khashoggi was a critic of Saudi Arabia who was tortured and murdered by Saudi law enforcement officials. He was invited to the Saudi embassy in Turkey and was kidnapped there.


title: Police corruption

text: Police in the UAE have abused those in their custody and sometimes this abuse has led to death. The Abu Dhabi Police allegedly assisted Sheikh Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a 2009 torture incident. The Police are also alleged to have used excessive force on critics and protesters.


title: Police corruption

text: In Global Corruption Barometer 2013 report conducted by Transparency International, Spain ranked 37th out of 175 countries (1st being the least corrupt) on the Corruption Perception Index with the highest form of corruption being political at 4.4%. The 3rd highest was police corruption at 3.1%. Under the Spanish Constitution, corruption is defined as where a holder of public authority or public official who solicits or receives a gift or offer for carrying out in the course of his duties, for his own gain or for the benefit of others, an act or omission which constitutes an offence shall be liable to imprisonment for 2 to 6 years. The term corruption can also be interpreted as to include police brutality. It is the duty of both an Ombudsman and the Internal Affairs Unit to investigate and process complaints against law enforcement officials.


title: Police corruption

text: According to the Human Rights Report: Spain - In 2012, there were 32 reported complaints of police brutality. As an example, in June (date unknown), six prison officials were charged with "crimes of torture, assault, and humiliations to inmates at the Quatre Camins detention facility during a prison revolt in 2004." These officials received sentences ranging from four months to one and a half years. In a case study on Spain, it is documented that there 220 officers of the law being held in Spanish prison (either remanded or convicted).


title: Police corruption

text: As a member of the European Partner's Against Corruption (EPAC), a document was released in November 2011 about the Policing Oversight Principles, which for Spain is the Inspectorate of Personnel and Security Services who oversees the enforcement of these policing principles of the above bodies:


title: Police corruption

text: The highest standard of policing, respect for the rule of law and human rights in all policing activities, greater public confidence in policing, proper systems of accountability for police officers and other law enforcement officials, effective redress for those who are victims of police misconduct, greater openness and understanding of policing by citizens, systems to ensure that lessons are learnt from incidents and errors, greater respect for the law, policing and as a consequence reductions in criminality.


title: Police corruption

text: However, according to Freelance Journalist; Guy Hedgecoe, "corruption [has] been accepted as a part of Spanish everyday life".


title: Police corruption

text: A 2011 report by Transparency International concluded that although corruption is not endemic, it is a much greater problem than recognised and that there was an inadequate response to its growing threat. The report also found that the response to corruption from British institutions was often underwhelming and failed to adequately address the issues. A 2015 report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) on the capability of British institutions to tackle police corruption argued that progress had been made in combating corruption since 2011, noting that allegations of misconduct and corruption inside the police force are being taken seriously, and that superior officers displayed strong ethical commitments to tackling corruption. However, the report also condemned the relatively large number of investigations where no further action was taken, roughly two thirds of all investigations. HMIC Mike Cunningham noted that many cases of police corruption are dropped due to being unfounded, however they believed many cases had not been adequately investigated. Officers were also shown to lack confidence in the anonymity and mechanisms in place for reporting the misconduct of peers, which hinders the ability of institutions to effectively identify and combat police corruption.


title: Police corruption

text: In the UK, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is responsible for overseeing the system of handling complaints made against police officers in England and Wales, while these duties are handled by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) in Northern Ireland, and the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) in Scotland. These agencies can manage or supervise police investigations into corruption, conduct independent investigations into the most serious cases, and can refer cases for prosecution should enough evidence be found to form a case.


title: Police corruption

text: A 2012 report into police corruption in England and Wales by the IPCC noted the prevalence of the serious offences referred to them from 2008 to 2011; perverting the course of justice (33%), theft or fraud (30%), abuse of authority (15%), unauthorised disclosure of information (13%), and misuse of systems (9%). The IPCC received 837 referrals during this period, mostly from British citizens. 47 cases were referred for prosecution, resulting in ten prison sentences, one suspended sentence and one fine. As a result of all investigations into the corruption and misconduct of British police and staff between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, 134 police officers and staff were dismissed, while a further 711 faced disciplinary sanctions. 103 Metropolitan Police officers were also suspended during this period. Offences included drug related offences, bribery, theft or fraud, sexual misconduct, and information disclosure, where information disclosure and theft or fraud were the most common offences. The Directorate of Professional standards considers the "exploitation of staff through inappropriate relationships with journalists, private investigators and criminals" the biggest threat to police integrity.


title: Police corruption

text: On 27 June 2012 the Home Affairs Committee announced an inquiry into the IPCC including, but not limited to, analysis of the independence of the commission, the powers and responsibilities of the commission and the effectiveness of Commission investigations. The committee began hearing evidence on 17 July 2012. The report was published on 29 January 2013 and was scathing, describing it as "woefully underequipped and hamstrung in achieving its original objectives. It has neither the powers nor the resources that it needs to get to the truth when the integrity of the police is in doubt."


title: Police corruption

text: Police corruption in the United States is not often reported on in the media, however cases of police brutality and corruption have been reported on, such as US police having faced killing charges.


title: Police corruption

text: Although not explicitly related to police corruption, a study identified 6,724 cases involving the arrests of 5,545 sworn officers across the nation between 2005 and 2011 for a variety of criminal acts. That is, on average, police officers are getting arrested around 1,000 times per year. 41% of the total crimes were committed while the officers were on duty. A breakdown listed five main types of crimes:


title: Police corruption

text: Noble cause corruption, as ethical corruption, is a departure from conventional discussions on police corruption, which typically focus on monetary corruption. According to the field of Police Ethics, noble cause corruption is police misconduct "committed in the name of good ends." In "Police Ethics" it argued that some of the best officers are often the most susceptible to noble cause corruption. According to professional policing literature, noble cause corruption includes "planting or fabricating evidence, lying or the fabrication and manipulation of facts on reports or through testimony in court, and generally abusing police authority to make a charge stick." According to Robert Reiner, a professor at the London School of Economics, stops based on


title: Police corruption

text: Police corruption affects society, including political, economic, and sociological. The social aspect is perhaps easiest to define, because even one corrupt officer in a department can generate an overall distrust of the department (the theory). This negative outlook on policing by civilians helps maintain an "us versus them" mentality among police, which only serves to further the rift between police officers and civilians.


title: Police corruption

text: Police corruption, when brought to the public eye, increases pressures on departments by lawmakers to enact change from within. In 2013, the West Valley City, Utah police's narcotics unit was disbanded due to rampant corruption among its officers. These officers were found stealing small items from seized vehicles, taking evidence, and placing tracking devices on potential suspects' vehicles without warrants. This action, like many others, not only increases distrust among the public, but lawmakers begin to feel pressure from the masses to remove officers and revamp entire departments.


title: Police corruption

text: Civilians within the jurisdiction look to lawmakers and justice officials to enact justice against the officers involved. If the instance of corruption happens to fall on an election year, their re-election campaign may be lost.


title: Police corruption

text: In areas such as Afghanistan, media exposure and civilian involvement in combating corruption is rarely seen. Rather, international officials step in to help eliminate corruption in the department.


title: Police corruption

text: Depending on the number of people involved and severity of the acts, the state executive or legislature may be compelled to demand that the department be scrutinized and its policies corrected. This can involve replacing individual officers, mid-level leadership, or asking for a resignation by the department chief. Disciplinary actions depend on the severity of the act, but typically result in disciplinary actions by the department and negative media coverage for the department. In 1970, the New York City Knapp Commission began holding officers and supervision accountable and instituting real disciplinary actions for police corruption. In countries where corruption is a major issue, such as China and Russia, state government is often directly involved in investigating and disciplining cases of corruption, such as in the Chongqing gang trials, where police chief Wen Qiang was detained and put on trial for accepting bribes, rape, and other crimes during the Chongqing gang crackdown.


title: Police corruption

text: While political issues can easily be worked through, the social effect of police corruption is much harder to overcome. Civilians, especially those who or know someone who has been victimized by certain types of corruption, tend to see police officers as enemy forces. Similarly, police officers view civilians in the same light. Both issues have only been exacerbated by the War on Crime and War on Drugs. The "us versus them" mentality is especially prevalent among inner city minorities, where stereotyping and racial targeting seem to be the norm.


title: Police corruption

text: This theory suggests that one bad cop ruins the entire department. A single officer can not only cause leadership to initiate investigations over entire sections or the department as a whole, but that one corrupt officer/the rotten apple can bring a generally appreciated department to its knees in terms of public relations. People look at that one bad cop and assume, sometimes correctly (especially in this case, where several other officers were found to be committing similar violations) the entire department is corrupt and committing similar or worse acts. A 2019 study in the journal "Nature" backs up this theory, finding that misconduct by one police officer substantially increased the likelihood that peer officers would also engage in misconduct. The article uses the metaphor of a contagion.


title: Police corruption

text: Police corruption not only generates distrust among the public, but undermines the criminal justice system as a whole. Judges and prosecutors may develop a negative opinion of officers who come to testify in cases, especially those who have a history of disciplinary action related to corrupt acts. The trustworthiness of officers who work in departments where corruption has been discovered is severely diminished, and even if the testimony they provide in court is an exact recollection of the events in question, a prosecutor or judge may choose to simply ignore these facts because of their association with a seemingly corrupt department. In the case of the Waldo Police Department located in Florida, the entire department was disbanded partly due to allegations of corruption, meaning county law enforcement must take over where the city failed.


title: Police corruption

text: Should the corrupt act not be extremely severe, or the department decide discharge of the officer is unnecessary, those involved in corrupt acts may be charged to undergo remedial training. This could be inside or outside the department, and becomes another red mark on the already strapped budget of most departments. The cost of this remedial training pales in comparison to the cost of having to train new officers to replace those who are relieved of their duties, since these new hires will need to undergo initial academy training as well as whatever additional training the officer would require as they advanced in their career.


title: Police corruption

text: Investigation and litigation costs may be high. These investigators are either part of their own department or taken from other squads (county sheriff investigating a city department, for example), or can be private entities. The department must also invest in retaining attorneys for both themselves and the officers involved.


title: Police corruption

text: The BBC documentary Hacking: Power, Corruption and Lies (2014) about the Rupert Murdoch News International phone hacking scandal is about spying, espionage, hacking, police corruption, political corruption, media manipulation and abuse of power. It is also about democracy vs. fascist corporatism in the form of oligarchy, plutocracy, elitism and kleptocracy.


title: Police corruption

text: The BBC documentary Can We Trust The Police? (2012) is about police corruption, police brutality and police incompetence.


title: Police corruption

text: Stasi Legacy: Germany's Records of Repression (2011) (People & Power, Al Jazeera) is about the infamous Stasi secret police of communist East-Germany.


title: Police corruption

text: The Gestapo: Hitler's secret police (1991) The Geheime Staatspolizei, abbreviated Gestapo, was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organisation. The Gestapo was a notorious organization tasked with destroying political opponents of the Nazi movement, suppressing any opposition to Nazi policies, and persecuting Jews. From its origins as a Prussian intelligence organization, it grew into a sprawling and greatly feared apparatus of oppression. Heinrich Himmler was given command over Göring's Gestapo in 1934. Himmler, in addition to his position as head of the SS, took control of all German police forces, including the Ordnungspolizei (German: "Order Police"), with his appointment as Reichsführer SS and chief of the German police.


title: Police corruption

text: The films Lee Rock, Lee Rock II and Dark Blue show corrupt chiefs of police and corrupt police officers who take bribes and control protection racket just like the mafia.


title: Police corruption

text: Hidden Agenda shows corrupt chiefs of police, corrupt police officers, corrupt intelligence/spy agencies (MI5, CIA) and corrupt special forces who murder innocent civilians. It also shows corrupt politicians.


title: Police corruption

text: The film Overheard (2009) shows police officers who abuse their power and high-tech espionage technology to profit financially from spying.


title: Police corruption

text: The Siege (1998) with Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis shows U.S. Army corruption, intelligence/spy agency (CIA) corruption, and high-tech espionage technology to oppress civilian populations.


title: Police corruption

text: The Lives of Others (2006) is about the infamous Stasi secret police of communist East-Germany. A Hollywood remake was planned, but it was never made. In February 2007, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella announced a deal with The Weinstein Company to produce and direct an English-language remake of "The Lives of Others". Minghella died in March 2008 and Pollack died less than three months later.


title: Police corruption

text: City of Lies (2018) a film about the involvement of corrupt police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in the murders of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. The film was stalled for three years from 2018 to 2021. This suggested that the Los Angeles Police Department may have been trying to suppress the film, in which it is negatively portrayed, or that there were other major players who did not want the film released.


title: Police corruption

text: "Line of Duty" is a British TV show (first aired in 2012 with a sixth series ongoing as of March 2021) that deals exclusively with police corruption types on multiple levels.


title: Police corruption

text: Ray Donovan on Showtime depicts corruption at the local and federal levels while Chicago P.D. on NBC depicts corruption in a major U.S. city.


title: Police corruption

text: Cop Morty, from the "Rick and Morty" episode "The Ricklantis Mixup", Is also a corrupt Police officer.


title: Meet cute

text: In film and television, a meet cute is a scene in which the two people who will form a future romantic couple meet for the first time, typically under unusual, humorous, or cute circumstances.


title: Meet cute

text: This type of scene is a staple of romantic comedies, though it can also occur in sitcoms and even soap operas. Frequently, the meet cute leads to a humorous clash of personalities or of beliefs, embarrassing situations, or comical misunderstandings that further drive the plot.


title: Meet cute

text: The origin of the term is unknown but it appears to have been familiarly associated with Hollywood screenwriting by at least 1941. The earliest example given by the "Oxford English Dictionary" is from Anthony Boucher's mystery novel "The Case of the Solid Key" (1941), in which a character says "We met cute, as they say in story conferences." As this example implies, the term was already well-known, and in a 1996 "The Paris Review" interview, screenwriter Billy Wilder, referring to his 1938 screwball comedy film "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" (in which two characters meet while shopping for pajamas, one seeking a pajama top and the other a pajama bottom) says that the concept was "a staple of romantic comedies back then". In George Axelrod's play "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" (1955), a character explains,


title: Meet cute

text: Several subsequent examples can be found of reviewers using the term. Bosley Crowther, in his February 1964 review of "Sunday in New York", writes that a character "is conveniently importuned by this attractive young fellow she happens to run into – to 'meet cute,' as they say – on a Fifth Avenue bus". Film critics such as Roger Ebert and the Associated Press' Christy Lemire popularized the term in their reviews. In Ebert's commentary for the DVD of "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls", which he co-wrote, he describes the scene where law student Emerson Thorne bumps into the female character Petronella Danforth. Ebert admits that he, as the screenwriter, wrote into the script a "classic Hollywood meet cute". He explains the meet cute as a scene "in which somebody runs into somebody else, and then something falls, and the two people began to talk, and their eyes meet and they realize that they are attracted to one another".


title: James Sinegal

text: James D. "Jim" Sinegal (born January 1, 1936) is an American billionaire businessman who is the co-founder and former CEO of the Costco Wholesale Corporation, an international retail chain.


title: James Sinegal

text: He was born January 1, 1936, into a Catholic working-class family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended St. Lawrence O'Toole primary school, Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh), Helix High School in La Mesa, California, and earned an AA at San Diego City College in 1955. He attended San Diego State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959.


title: James Sinegal

text: After Sinegal started as a grocery bagger at FedMart in 1955, he discovered that he loved the retail business, and was excited by the opportunities at this rapidly growing retailer. At FedMart, he worked his way up to executive vice president in charge of merchandising and operations. He was a vice president of merchandising for Builders Emporium from 1977 to 1978, an executive vice president for the Price Company from 1978 to 1979. From 1979 to 1983, he worked with Sinegal/Chamberlin and Associates, a company that acted as a broker and sales representative for food and non-food products. Together with Seattle retailer Jeff Brotman, he co-founded Costco. From 1983 until his December 31, 2011, retirement, Sinegal served as Costco's president and CEO. As CEO, Sinegal was well known for traveling to each location every year, to inspect them personally. Sinegal's innovations made Costco the first "warehouse club" to include fresh food, eye-care clinics, pharmacies, and gas stations in its mix of goods and services.


title: James Sinegal

text: Sinegal was a protégé of Sol Price, widely considered to be the "father" of the "warehouse club" concept. Sinegal is known for a benevolent style of management rooted in the belief that employees who are treated well, will in turn, treat/serve customers well. Sinegal, through Costco, provided his employees — at every level of the company, including the stores — compensation and benefits that are much higher than retail industry norms. For example, over 90% of Costco employees qualify for employer-sponsored health insurance; the U.S. retail industry average is just under sixty percent. As a result, Costco has the "lowest" employee turnover rate in retail.


title: James Sinegal

text: In 1993, when growing competition threatened both Price Club and Costco Wholesale, Sinegal was invited to a partial merger. The two companies entered into a partial merger just after Price's earnings dropped to 40%. The new company, named PriceCostco, Inc., focused heavily on international expansion, opening stores in Mexico, South Korea, and England. Despite best efforts to recover losses, sales continued to drop. Robert Price and Jim Sinegal had different opinions regarding company direction and recovery policies. The breakup was formally announced in 1994. Price's breakaway company was named as Price Enterprises. Sinegal still continued to manage PriceCostco, Inc.


title: James Sinegal

text: In an interview published in the "Houston Chronicle" on July 17, 2005, he told Steven Greenhouse that he did not care about Wall Street analysts who had criticized him for putting good treatment of employees and customers ahead of pleasing shareholders. Investors might want higher earnings, but Sinegal stated, "We want to build a company that will still be here 50 and 60 years from now." A favorite quote attributed to Sinegal, in part about his philosophy on dealing with success, is, "You have to take the shit with the sugar." Investors who bought $10,000 of Costco stock in 1992 found it worth $43,564 just ten years later — a return of 354% (15.855%, annually). A 2012 CNBC documentary stated that from 1985 until Sinegal's retirement, the stock's value had increased by five thousand percent. Costco's two highest-sales years to date, were Sinegal's final two years as CEO.


title: James Sinegal

text: In 2009, Sinegal was considered one of "The TopGun CEOs" by Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency.


title: James Sinegal

text: On January 1, 2012, Sinegal retired as CEO of Costco Wholesale, continued to serve as Company Advisor and Director, and was succeeded by his long-term Costco colleague W. Craig Jelinek in 2012. Sinegal retired from the Board of Directors in January 2018.


title: James Sinegal

text: In 2008, Sinegal was part of an eleventh-hour, local ownership group that committed to invest $450 million ($150 million from each of the three co-owners) for the renovation of Seattle's KeyArena, and to purchase the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics franchise. The bid failed, however, as NBA commissioner David Stern had already made a private deal with an Oklahoma-based ownership group to move the team to Oklahoma City (where it was renamed the Oklahoma City Thunder).


title: James Sinegal

text: Sinegal and his wife, Janet, have three children. Sinegal's son David owns and operates the Sinegal Estate Winery in St. Helena, California.


title: James Sinegal

text: Sinegal is an avowed Democrat, and spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Sinegal has hosted President Barack Obama at his home on two occasions.


title: James Sinegal

text: Sinegal received an honorary doctorate from Dartmouth College alongside Jake Tapper and others in June 2017.


title: Östersunds FK

text: Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden and since 2022 play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan. The club was formed in 1996 as a merger of several Östersund clubs. The club is affiliated with the Jämtland-Härjedalens Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Jämtkraft Arena. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are red and black, predominantly in stripes and with red shorts and socks.


title: Östersunds FK

text: From its creation, the club played mostly in the third tier of Swedish football but in 2013 Östersund achieved promotion to the second tier, Superettan, after achieving two consecutive promotions. In 2016 Östersund was promoted to the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, for the first time. In 2017, Östersund won the Svenska Cupen and qualified for the UEFA Europa League. The club was relegated to Superettan in 2021.


title: Östersunds FK

text: The name 'Östersunds' is in a possessive clause in the Swedish language, which means it is incorrect to call the club anything other than "Östersund" in a short form based on the town name.


title: Östersunds FK

text: Östersunds FK was created in 1996 when the three local clubs Ope IF, IFK Östersund and Östersund/Torvalla FF merged, aiming to create a club in that would be able to establish itself in the top two tiers of Swedish football. The next year Frösö IF also joined the project. The newly formed club started out their existence in the third tier in 1997 and Östersund/Torvalla FF ceased to exist as a consequence. IFK Östersund, Ope IF och Östersund/Torvalla FF (ÖTFF). In 2000 a fifth club, Fältjägarnas IF, was also merged into the club.


title: Östersunds FK

text: During the 2000s the club started taking on an English flavour and in 2007 the director of football Daniel Kindberg used his friendship with coaches Roberto Martínez and Graeme Jones to start a cooperation with Swansea City where Östersund would loan young players from the club. Swansea also came over to Östersund to play the inauguration game at the newly built stadium. After a poor 2010 season the club was relegated to the fourth tier for the first time ever.


title: Östersunds FK

text: In 2011 Daniel Kindberg returned to the role as director of football and increased financial backing from local companies which enabled the hiring of more full-time staff. Following Jones' recommendation the club also brought in young English manager Graham Potter who was working at an English university at the time. Through several successful signings, some coming from Potter's connections at Nike Football Academy, the club was able to win both the fourth tier and then the third tier immediately the year after. The club was promoted to Superettan for the 2013 season and finished 10th that season.


title: Östersunds FK

text: In January 2014 the club announced that they had signed a half-billion kronor deal with the government of Libya to develop and educate Libyan football players. Under the terms of the deal, Östersunds FK would train 250 young men from Libya every year, except the first year in which they will receive 60 students. Those players would be taught English and computer skills in addition to sports theory and football training. The deal was expected to raise Östersund FKs yearly profits by over 50%. The deal with the Libyan state never came to life, thus meaning no students came to Östersund and no money was received by the club.


title: Östersunds FK

text: On 27 October 2015, the club was promoted to Allsvenskan for the first time. In 2017, they managed to win their first major trophy, Svenska Cupen, after defeating IFK Norrköping 4–1 in the final, also qualifying for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, marking their first appearance in a European competition tournament. In their Europa League debut in the second qualifying round on 13 July 2017, Östersund earned a shock 2–0 victory against Turkish giants Galatasaray at the Jämtkraft Arena and eliminated them after a 1–1 draw in Istanbul. Two goals by Saman Ghoddos in a win against PAOK on 24 August saw them qualify for the Group Stage at the first time of asking, at the same time making them the only Swedish representative in the season's UEFA competition and making Graham Potter the only British manager in the Europa League Group Stage. After losing only one game in their campaign, they finished second in a group featuring Athletic Bilbao and Hertha Berlin, becoming the first Swedish club to progress beyond the Europa League group stage. In the round of 32 they managed to beat English side Arsenal 2–1 away but were eliminated 4–2 on aggregate after losing the first leg 3–0.


title: Östersunds FK

text: On 17 April 2018, club chairman (also the director of football) Daniel Kindberg was taken into custody by the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, suspected on probable cause of serious fraud and for assisting in serious gross accounting violations. Together with two other people, Kindberg is suspected of submitting false invoices in several companies, according to the prosecutor. Several of these companies have strong ties to Östersunds FK and the club's sponsorship deals. Several years before, in 2014, Kindberg was subject to criticism when Östersundshem, the municipal housing company where he was the CEO, became a big sponsor of Östersunds FK.


title: Östersunds FK

text: On 11 June 2018, Graham Potter left Östersunds FK to take over as manager of Swansea City after eight seasons in charge.


title: Östersunds FK

text: On 31 October 2021, they were relegated from Allsvenskan after they lost against Varberg BoIS. In the 2022 season, Östersunds FK will play in Superettan, the second tier of Swedish men's professional football. Östersund played six seasons in Allsvenskan before they were relegated.


title: Östersunds FK

text: This list of notable players includes those who have either been named player of the year at the club, or has become league top goalscorer, or went on to play in Allsvenskan (or for larger clubs abroad).


title: Östersunds FK

text: "* League restructuring in 2006 resulted in a new division being created at Tier 3 and subsequent divisions dropping a level."


title: Overhead projector

text: An overhead projector (often abbreviated to OHP), like a film or slide projector, uses light to project an enlarged image on a screen, allowing the view of a small document or picture to be shared with a large audience.


title: Overhead projector

text: In the overhead projector, the source of the image is a page-sized sheet of transparent plastic film (also known as "foils" or "transparencies") with the image to be projected either printed or hand-written/drawn. These are placed on the glass platen of the projector, which has a light source below it and a projecting mirror and lens assembly above it (hence, "overhead"). They were widely used in education and business before the advent of video projectors.


title: Overhead projector

text: An overhead projector works on the same principle as a slide projector, in which a focusing lens projects light from an illuminated slide onto a projection screen where a real image is formed. However some differences are necessitated by the much larger size of the transparencies used (generally the size of a printed page), and the requirement that the transparency be placed face up (and readable to the presenter). For the latter purpose, the projector includes a mirror just before or after the focusing lens to fold the optical system toward the horizontal. That mirror also accomplishes a reversal of the image in order that the image projected onto the screen corresponds to that of the slide as seen by the presenter looking down at it, rather than a mirror image thereof. Therefore, the transparency is placed face up (toward the mirror and focusing lens), in contrast with a 35mm slide projector or film projector (which lack such a mirror) where the slide's image is non-reversed on the side "opposite" the focusing lens.


title: Overhead projector

text: A related invention for enlarging transparent images is the solar camera, but a similar purpose for opaque materials is served by the epidiascope.


title: Overhead projector

text: Because the focusing lens (typically less than in diameter) is much smaller than the transparency, a crucial role is played by the optical condenser which illuminates the transparency. Since this requires a large optical lens (at least the size of the transparency) but may be of poor optical quality (since the sharpness of the image does not depend on it), a Fresnel lens is employed. The Fresnel lens is located at (or is part of) the glass plate on which the transparency is placed, and serves to redirect most of the light hitting it into a converging cone toward the focusing lens. Without such a condenser at that point, most of the light would miss the focusing lens (or else the focusing lens would have to be very large and prohibitively expensive). Additionally, mirrors or other condensing elements below the Fresnel lens serve to increase the portion of the light bulb's output which reaches the Fresnel lens in the first place. In order to provide sufficient light on the screen, a high intensity bulb is used which often requires fan cooling.


title: Overhead projector

text: Overhead projectors normally include a manual focusing mechanism which raises and lowers the position of the focusing lens (including the folding mirror) in order to adjust the object distance (optical distance between the slide and the lens) to focus at the chosen image distance (distance to the projection screen) given the fixed focal length of the focusing lens. This permits a range of projection distances.


title: Overhead projector

text: Increasing (or decreasing) the projection distance increases (or decreases) the focusing system's magnification in order to fit the projection screen in use (or sometimes just to accommodate the room setup). Increasing the projection distance also means that the same amount of light is spread over a larger screen, resulting in a dimmer image. With a change in the projection distance, the focusing must be readjusted for a sharp image. However, the condensing optics (Fresnel lens) is optimized for one particular vertical position of the lens, corresponding to one projection distance. Therefore, when it is focused for a greatly different projection distance, part of the light cone projected by the Fresnel lens towards the focusing lens misses that lens. This has the greatest effect towards the outer edges of the projected image, so that one typically sees either blue or brown fringing at the edge of the screen when the focus is towards an extreme. Using the projector near its recommended projection distance allows a focusing position where this is avoided and the intensity across the screen is approximately uniform.


title: Overhead projector

text: The lamp technology of an overhead projector is typically very simple compared to a modern LCD or DLP video projector. Most overheads use an extremely high-power halogen lamp that may consume up to 750 or 1000 watts. A high-flow blower is required to keep the bulb from melting due to the heat generated, and this blower is often on a timer that keeps it running for a period after the light is extinguished.


title: Overhead projector

text: Further, the intense heat accelerates failure of the high intensity lamp, often burning out in less than 100 hours, requiring replacement, which is often the most expensive part of owning a projector. In contrast, a modern LCD or DLP projector often uses an Ultra-high-performance lamp which has a higher luminous efficacy and lasts for thousands of hours. A drawback of that technology is the warm up time required for such lamps.


title: Overhead projector

text: Older overhead projectors used a tubular quartz bulb which was mounted above a bowl-shaped polished reflector. However, because the lamp was suspended above and outside the reflector, a large amount of light was cast to the sides inside the projector body that was wasted, thus requiring a higher power lamp for sufficient screen illumination. More modern overhead projectors use an integrated lamp and conical reflector assembly, allowing the lamp to be located deep within the reflector and sending a greater portion of its light towards the Fresnel lens; this permits using a lower power lamp for the same screen illumination.


title: Overhead projector

text: A useful innovation for overhead projectors with integrated lamps/reflectors is the quick-swap dual-lamp control, allowing two lamps to be installed in the projector in movable sockets. If one lamp fails during a presentation the presenter can merely move a lever to slide the spare into position and continue with the presentation, without needing to open the projection unit or waiting for the failed bulb to cool before replacing it.


title: Overhead projector

text: Some ancient projectors like the magic lantern can be regarded as predecessors of the overhead projector. The steganographic mirror possibly came closest to how the overhead projector was used.


title: Overhead projector

text: German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher's 1645 book "Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae" included a description of his invention, the "Steganographic Mirror": a primitive projection system with a focusing lens and text or pictures painted on a concave mirror reflecting sunlight, mostly intended for long distance communication. In 1654 Belgian Jesuit mathematician André Tacquet used Kircher's technique to show the journey from China to Belgium of Italian Jesuit missionary Martino Martini. It is unknown how exactly Tacquet used Kircher's system, but it is imagined that he drew pictures on the projecting mirror while details of the journey were explained.


title: Overhead projector

text: The "solar microscope" was employed in early photographic experiments with photosensitive silver nitrate by Thomas Wedgwood and Humphry Davy in making the first, but impermanent, enlargements of minute objects.


title: Overhead projector

text: French physicist Edmond Becquerel developed the first known overhead projection apparatus in 1853. It was demonstrated by French instrument maker and inventor Jules Duboscq in 1866.


title: Overhead projector

text: Subsequently, in 1857 Baltimore painter David Acheson Woodward' patented a solar enlarging camera, a large instrument operated out-of-doors. It used sunlight and copying lenses for enlargements from a small negative onto large photographically sensitized paper or canvas. Portrait artists found it a boon that provided a guide in making accurate likenesses which they would paint in oils, watercolour or pastel over the enlargement, often made at life size.


title: Overhead projector

text: An overhead projector designed by American scientist Henry Morton was marketed around 1880 as a "vertical lantern".


title: Overhead projector

text: The use of transparent sheets for overhead projection, called viewfoils or viewgraphs, was largely developed in the United States. Overhead projectors were introduced into U.S. military training during World War II as early as 1940 and were quickly being taken up by tertiary educators, and within the decade they were being used in corporations. After the war they were used at schools like the U.S. Military Academy. The journal "Higher Education" of April 1952 noted;


title: Overhead projector

text: Allied to the US Navy development of the improved lightweight overhead projector was its adaptation of the Ozalid dry printing process, developed in Germany in 1923, to copy training documents and illustrations on projection transparencies, a process simple enough to be carried out in the field and which ensured uniformity of instructional material used.


title: Overhead projector

text: Overhead projectors were used early on for police work with a cellophane roll over a 9-inch stage, allowing facial characteristics to be rolled across the stage.


title: Overhead projector

text: As the demand for projectors grew, Buhl Industries was founded in 1953, and became the leading US contributor for several optical refinements for the overhead projector and its projection lens.


title: Overhead projector

text: Overhead projectors began to be widely used in schools and businesses in the late 1950s and early 1960s, beside the contemporaneously-developed carousel slide projectors with a horizontally mounted tray manufactured by Kodak.


title: Overhead projector

text: In the late 1950s Roger Appeldorn was challenged by his boss at 3M to find a use for the transparencies that were the waste of their color copy process. Appeldorn developed a process for the projection of transparent sheets that led to 3M's first marketable transparency film. The Strategic Air Command base in Omaha was one of the first big clients, using circa 20,000 sheets per month. 3M then decided to develop their own overhead projector instead of the one they had been selling until then, which was produced by an outside manufacturer. It took several prototypes before a cost-effective, small and foldable version could be presented on January 15, 1962. It had a new fresnel lens made with a structured-surface plastic, much better than other plastic lenses and much cheaper than glass.


title: Overhead projector

text: In 1957, the United States' first Federal Aid to Education program stimulated overhead sales which remained high up to the late 1990s and into the 21st Century.


title: Overhead projector

text: Overhead projectors were widely used in education and business before the advent of computer-based projection.


title: Overhead projector

text: The overhead projector facilitates an easy low-cost interactive environment for educators. Teaching materials can be pre-printed on plastic sheets, upon which the educator can directly write using a non-permanent, washable color marking pen. This saves time, since the transparency can be pre-printed and used repetitively, rather than having materials written manually before each class.


title: Overhead projector

text: The overhead is typically placed at a comfortable writing height for the educator and allows the educator to face the class, facilitating better communication between the students and teacher. The enlarging features of the projector allow the educator to write in a comfortable small script in a natural writing position rather than writing in an overly large script on a blackboard and having to constantly hold their arm out in midair to write on the blackboard.


title: Overhead projector

text: When the transparency sheet is full of written or drawn material, it can simply be replaced with a new, fresh sheet with more pre-printed material, again saving class time vs a blackboard that would need to be erased and teaching materials rewritten by the educator. Following the class period, the transparencies are easily restored to their original unused state by washing off with soap and water.


title: Overhead projector

text: In the early 1980s–1990s, overhead projectors were used as part of a classroom computer display/projection system. A liquid-crystal panel mounted in a plastic frame was placed on top of the overhead projector and connected to the video output of the computer, often splitting off the normal monitor output. A cooling fan in the frame of the LCD panel would blow cooling air across the LCD to prevent overheating that would fog the image.


title: Overhead projector

text: The first of these LCD panels were monochrome-only, and could display NTSC video output such as from an Apple II computer or VCR. In the late 1980s color models became available, capable of "thousands" of colors (16-bit color), for the color Macintosh and VGA PCs. The displays were never particularly fast to refresh or update, resulting in the smearing of fast-moving images, but it was acceptable when nothing else was available.


title: Overhead projector

text: The Do-It-Yourself community has started using this idea to make low-cost home theater projectors. By removing the casing and backlight assembly of a common LCD monitor, one can use the exposed LCD screen in conjunction with the overhead projector to project the contents of the LCD screen to the wall at a much lower cost than with standard LCD projectors. Due to the mirroring of the image in the head of the overhead projector, the image on the wall is "re-flipped" to where it would be if one was looking at the LCD screen normally.


title: Overhead projector

text: Overhead projectors were once a common fixture in most classrooms and business conference rooms in the United States, but in the 2000s they were slowly being replaced by document cameras, dedicated computer projection systems and interactive whiteboards. Such systems allow the presenter to project video directly from a computer file, typically produced using software such as Microsoft PowerPoint and LibreOffice. Such presentations can also include animations, interactive components, or even video clips, with ease of paging between slides. The relatively expensive printing or photocopying of color transparencies is eliminated.


title: Overhead projector

text: The primary reason for this gradual replacement is the deeply ingrained use of computing technology in modern society and the inability of overheads to easily support the features that modern users demand. While an overhead can display static images fairly well, it performs poorly at displaying moving images. The LCD video display panels that were once used as an add-on to an overhead projector have become obsolete, with that combination of display technology and projection optics now optimally integrated into a modern video projector.


title: Overhead projector

text: The standards of users have also increased, so that a dim, fuzzy overhead projection that is too bright in the center and too dim around the edges is no longer acceptable. The optical focus, linearity, brightness and clarity of an overhead generally cannot match that of a video projector . Video projectors use extremely small picture generation mechanisms, allowing for precision optics that far exceed the plastic fresnel lens' optical performance. They also include additional optics that eliminate the "hotspot" in the center of the screen directly above the light source, so that the brightness is uniform everywhere on the projection screen.


title: Overhead projector

text: Critics feel that there are some downsides as these technologies are more prone to failure and have a much steeper learning curve for the user than a standard overhead projector.


title: Child care

text: Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), child care typically refers to the care provided by caregivers that are not the child's parents. Child care is a broad topic that covers a wide spectrum of professionals, institutions, contexts, activities, and social and cultural conventions. Early child care is an equally important and often overlooked component of child's developments.


title: Child care

text: Care can be provided to children by a variety of individuals and groups. Care facilitated by similar-aged children covers a variety of developmental and psychological effects in both caregivers and charge. This is due to their mental development being in a particular case of not being able to progress as it should be at their age. This care giving role may also be taken on by the child's extended family's. Another form of childcare that is on the rise in contrast to familial care giving is that of center-based child care. In lieu of familial care giving, these responsibilities may be given to paid caretakers, orphanages or foster homes to provide care, housing, and schooling.


title: Child care

text: Professional caregivers work within the context of a center-based care (including crèches, daycare, preschools and schools) or a home-based care (nannies or family daycare). The majority of child care institutions available require child care providers to have extensive training in first aid and be CPR certified. In addition, background checks, drug testing at all centers, and reference verifications are normally a requirement. Child care can consist of advanced learning environments that include early childhood education or elementary education. "The objective of the program of daily activities should be to foster incremental developmental progress in a healthy and safe environment and should be flexible to capture the interests of the children and the individual abilities of the children." In many cases the appropriate child care provider is a teacher or person with educational background in child development, which requires a more focused training aside from the common core skills typical of a child caregiver.


title: Child care

text: As well as these licensed options, parents may also choose to find their own caregiver or arrange childcare exchanges/swaps with another family.


title: Child care

text: Access to and quality of childcare have a variety of implications for children, parents and guardians, and families. As aforementioned, child care at an early age can have long-term impacts on educational attainment for children. Parents, particularly women and mothers, see increased labor force attachment when child care is more accessible and affordable. In particular, child care has disproportionate benefits for communities lacking in child care programs, such as certain immigrant communities and communities of color.