.
.
Governing in New Haven is a thankless job. Worker drones have too much to do, and don't get paid enough to do it. Social service workers struggle with enormous stacks of case files and are exposed every day of their lives to the scum of humanity, until empathy shuts down. The police have an endless task; for every criminal they lock up, five more seem to spring up, hydra-like, in their place. Even those at the top don't think they get nearly enough respect for all that they do. Even those at the top don't think they get enough respect from people who do nothing but whine about how the city isn't safe enough, isn't clean enough.
Under such conditions, who could condemn someone from taking a little bit off the top or under the table? The temptation to fall to corruption within the government is constant, and almost everyone has a price.
Bribery convinces corrupt police officers on whom to harass and when to turn a blind eye. Clerks and drones can be convinced to forge or lose documents. Social workers can harass innocents, or turn a blind eye to abuse, and corporations can even buy off the Mayor, with campaign donations, gifts, and graft. So what if the rest of the city suffers? In a world like this, it's every man for himself, and the government are determined to get theirs.
The primary groups who use money and blackmail to pull the strings of New Havens police and government are large corporations and the Syndicate. Corporations pay inspectors to overlook problems with their books or facilities, and to pass zoning laws that fit their needs. The Syndicate skims money from the city's bare coffers and convinces the police to look away from their operations.