Retired law enforcement officials claim that whistleblowers who expose police abuse, fraud and misconduct deserve greater protections, to help uproot a prevalent police culture of being above the law.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — Whistleblowers who expose police abuse, fraud and misconduct deserve greater protections, to help uproot a prevalent police culture of being above the law, retired law enforcement officials told Sputnik.

“Cops who stand up to do the right thing need better protection,” former Boston area homicide detective and whistleblower Ken Williams told Sputnik on Friday.

Police officers who stand up to expose fraud, waste, or abuse within the force are never “recognized and celebrated,” Williams noted.

He continued that a citizen who stands up to capture police misconduct, brutality or murder on video, “that person is a hero as far as I am concerned.”

According to the US bureau of Justice Statistics, 92 percent of all civilian complaints of police misconduct end up being dismissed. Only 8 percent of civilian complaints that are investigated result in disciplinary action.

Within the US police force itself, it is difficult to officially document cases of misconduct, false reporting of police incidents and other abuses.

Former Deputy Chief Marshal Matthew Fogg told Sputnik that “a culture of law enforcement has developed into this monolithic power.”

He added that law enforcement officers "become a world unto themselves, a hierarchy within the government."

Rank and file police officers, observing abuses of power need to be able to speak out “without our careers being imperiled,” Fogg said. He noted that when those protections are in place, “change will come.”

Police officers face challenges in whistleblowing and are not clearly protected under federal whistleblower protection laws.

Both Williams and Fogg blew the whistle on discrimination within their law enforcement agencies and have actively petitioned for whistleblower protections for rank and file officers.

In 2012, Williams blew the whistle on his own police department for engaging in discrimination. As a result, he faced retaliation and was forced into early retirement.

Fogg won a landmark 1998 case against the Department of Justice when he exposed discrimination within the US Marshals Service.

The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.