The trifectas of impunity

THE unholy alliance of politics, crime and police had been well-researched in Alfred McCoy's book, "Policing America's Empire," which uncovered how American colonial policies fueled political corruption, crime syndicates, and the surveillance state still dominant in the country today. McCoy traces the intersection between the trifectas of impunity to the American occupation, from opium dens in Chinatown, gambling and prostitution dens in cities to smuggling rackets in the ports. The trifectas seeped through the cracks of our weak administrative systems and entrenched themselves through regime changes.

The International IDEA report in 2016 claimed that decentralization initiatives could actually cause a backlash against the State. Democratic systems at the local level can be specifically targeted by organized crime through political corruption. In 2012, Italy's interior minister dismissed the entire local government of Reggio Calabria municipality due to strong ties between legislators and the powerful mafia called Ndrangheta.