Dirty Broom Theory: A Conceptual Framework for Law Enforcement Integrity

Abstrak

The integrity of law enforcement officials is fundamental to the effectiveness, fairness, and legitimacy of law enforcement. However, existing legal theories have not adequately conceptualized how integrity violations may contaminate legal procedures and undermine the legitimacy of judicial outcomes. This study aims to examine the normative relationship between official integrity and the legitimacy of law enforcement outcomes, formulate the Dirty Broom Theory as a conceptual framework, and assess its implications for law enforcement reform in Indonesia. This study employs normative legal research using statutory, conceptual, doctrinal, and comparative approaches. Primary and secondary legal materials, including legislation, jurisprudence, legal doctrines, and scholarly literature, are analyzed through systematic legal interpretation. The findings demonstrate that official integrity constitutes an essential condition for maintaining procedural fairness and substantive legitimacy in legal decision-making. The study formulates the Dirty Broom Theory, premised on the proposition that “a dirty broom cannot produce clean justice.” The theory explains that corruption, bribery, evidence manipulation, case fabrication, abuse of authority, conflicts of interest, and other integrity violations can contaminate the law enforcement process and compromise the legitimacy of its outcomes. Furthermore, the Chain of Integrity Principle conceptualizes criminal justice as an interconnected process in which integrity at each stage contributes to the legitimacy of the final decision. The theory provides a conceptual foundation for integrity-based law enforcement reform in Indonesia.

Kata kunci

• Dirty Broom Theory
• Integrity of Law Enforcement Officials
• Effectiveness of Law Enforcement
• Chain of Integrity Principle