Failing to Take A Bribe Is Not Enough–Law Enforcement Must Be Contacted
Senator Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) announced that she will be introducing legislation establishing criminal penalties for public servants who are offered bribes or witness bribery attempts, but fail to report the activity to State or Federal law enforcement officials. Other States have such a law on the books, but not New Jersey.
Beck’s fellow 12th District Legislators, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande will be introducing an identical bill in the General Assembly.
In the aftermath of last weeks arrests, numerous public officials have come forward stating that they were offered bribes by an FBI informant posing as a developer. It is unclear if any of these individuals reported the bribery attempts to law enforcement, or simply looked the other way.
“It’s clear that people offering bribes have come to believe that officials won’t report them in New Jersey’s culture of corruption,” said Beck. “We need to create a culture where it is not only unacceptable and inadvisable for a public official to accept a bribe, but where it is unacceptable and inadvisable for another official to turn a blind eye when they know it’s happening.”
“The simple failure to commit a crime is not something to pride oneself on, one must take the extra step,” said O’Scanlon. “Saying, ‘I could have taken a bribe, but I didn’t’ doesn’t mean you’ve done the right thing. All it means is that you know of someone out there who was offering a bribe, and didn’t feel it necessary to inform the authorities. It’s as bad as taking part in a cover-up.”
“It’s actually a shame that this is something that even requires legislation,” said Casagrande. “It’s a shame that we can’t count on every one of our elected officials to do the right thing. But it’s apparent, with so many public officials expecting a pat on the back for not taking a bribe offered to them, that we need to make sure that when those bribes are offered, they are reported to law enforcement.”
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June 26, 2009
