Czech Police are only able to probe a third of corruption cases themselves and fast enough to stop the suspects covering up their tracks, the Czech daily Hospodářské noviny reports on Wednesday citing a yet to be made public report produced by the Ministry of Interior.
Detectives say they are often have other cases to deal and are hampered by aged equipment.
Detectives in response to the charges of why they were so ineffective fighting corruption say they are often have other cases to deal, sometimes juggling 30 cases at the same time, and are hampered by aged equipment, such as computers that might better be museum exhibits.
Detectives say they are often have other cases to deal and are hampered by aged equipment.
The paper says the study helps explain why police are failing to better combat corruption, on of the top priorities of the center-right coalition government which came into being a year ago after parliamentary elections.
The study picks out one possible bright sport, the increased by detectives of financial analysis to pinpoint corruption. Through such analysis it can be fairly easily determined if the suspects income and outgoings really match up or whether corrupt payments helped him live a life beyond his/her real means.
When ends don't meet
Detectives, for example, have been using this method since last year to investigate the town clerk of the Moravian town of Znojmo who is suspected of taking bribes from four construction companies. They established that the official was able to build a house and tennis court without touching his normal monthly salary.
The Czech Republic came in 53rd last year in Transparency International’s global Corruption Perception Index, behind Saudi Arabia and several African countries. The rating has hardly improved in recent years despite pledges by successive governments to get to grips with corruption.
Fighting corruption featured as one of junior coalition party Public Affairs’ (VV) main campaign election promises but the party has since become mired in its own series of scandals and unanswered questions about suspicious cash flows.
