Many civilians’ experience of corruption is likely to be the payment of small bribes in daily life. These small bribes might include payments for speeding up administrative procedures, bribes at checkpoints, or bribes to avoid predatory police. In many countries, daily processes with the police or security services are overly complex, and citizens must pay bribes in order to receive basic services. At checkpoints, soldiers or police may extract money from citizens. The demand of bribes often occurs at points where citizens and members of the security services interact. Demanding bribes may be seen by police or security services as a low risk, high reward activity, but the impact of even relatively low bribes is immense.

When the payment of small bribes is rampant, it can take up a major percentage of families’ income, particularly in countries with low household incomes. A 2001 study by Transparencia Mexicana found that approximately 8% of household incomes were devoted to bribes to access public services or gain favour (Anozie, et al. 2004).  

In countries with predatory police forces, and where bribery is rampant, bribery may be the most common way the citizenry and security services interact. Demanding a bribe decreases the legitimacy of the security services; it makes it clear that they are not using their power to serve and protect the population, but for private gain.  Petty corruption allows predatory policing and abuse of power to thrive.

A 2004 study of corruption in the Mexican Police  force found that small business owners often paid bribes to police for them to patrol their neighbourhood. This constitutes a diversion of resources, as police time and efforts are unfairly allocated. Accepting bribes decreases the effectiveness of the security services; if the police turn a blind eye to crimes in return for a bribe, the effects on criminal activity, including organised crime and illegitimate markets, are clear.

Small bribes tend to exist alongside other forms of corruption. For example, corruption in the salary chain diminishes an individual policeman’s salary, which will encourage him to supplement his income by accepting bribes (Quah, 2001).  Police and security services tend to have significant authority in their region, city, or town, making opportunities for corruption high and the risk of detection low. Individual police officers also tend to operate independently, with quite a bit of individual autonomy in their actions.

The police and security services are most likely to demand bribes when the risk of detection or prosecution is low, the rewards are high, and many opportunities exist.  To combat small bribery, the consequences of partaking in corruption should be severe, monitoring and detection mechanisms (including whistleblowing) should be robust, and members of the police and security services should be paid a good living wage. Most importantly, leaders should develop a culture of integrity by making demanding bribes or accepting them socially, as well as legally, unacceptable.

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