AUSTIN `RECIPE'

ROSELLE -- Tribune editorialists missed the point of Operation Broken Star
and the "Austin 4" who were convicted of shaking down drug dealers.

It's impossible to deny that police, like members of any other profession,
are subject to corruption. But it is grossly myopic to say that the
incidents that took place in Austin and other districts are just a matter
of good cops and bad cops.

There is a common thread running through all these incidents: the obscene
profits made possible by drug prohibition. That is the invitation to
corruption, just as it was during alcohol prohibition. No matter how many
honest cops there are, prohibition offers the lure of easy money to those
teetering on the edge. Add that to the despair of knowing that efforts
against illegal drug sellers will never really put a dent in the trade, and
you've got a recipe to make more bad cops.

Stephen Young

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski