Blue Wall of Silence
Encyclopedia
The Blue Code of Silence (also known as the "Blue Shield") is an unwritten rule among police officers in the United States
not to report on another colleague's errors, misconducts or crimes. Other names associated with the Blue Code of Silence are the blue wall, curtain, veil, or cocoon. If questioned about an incident of misconduct involving another officer (e.g. during the course of an official inquiry), while following the Blue Code of Silence, the officer being questioned would claim ignorance of another officer's wrongdoing.
Some police officers enforce a tribal value system also known as an emotional value system which is considered to be a "police family" or "police brotherhood". The tribal value system is a part of the Blue Code of Silence. Members of the tribal system generally receive emotional support and security from other police officers. The Blue Code of Silence is considered to be controversial because it questions ethics and values in law enforcement. In some cases, many police officers have been pressured into following the Blue Code of Silence.
said, "The pervasiveness of the code of silence is itself alarming." Cities that have the most crime tend to have more police officers that follow the Blue Code of Silence. It is important that officers show loyalty to each other when they patrol regularly in dangerous areas. One police officer from New York City said, "If a cop decided to tell on me, his career's ruined....He's going to be labeled as a rat."
is a term used when an officer gives a false testimony in court in favor of their fellow police officer. If an officer chooses not to lie in court they may be threatened or ostracized by fellow police officers. In 1994, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption also known as the Mollen Commission
did a two year investigation on testilying in law enforcement. They discovered that some officers falsified documents such as arrest reports, warrants and evidence for an illegal arrest or search. Some police officers also fabricated stories to a jury. The Commission found that the officers were not testilying for greed but because they believed that they were imprisoning people that deserved it. Also many prosecutor
s allowed testilying to occur. People involved in testilying believed that it was not corruption but yet another way to "get the job done."
Federal laws strongly prohibit officer misconduct including officers who follow the Blue Code of Silence by "testilying" or neglecting to report any officer that is participating in corruption. If an officer is in violation of any of the officer misconduct federal laws, only the federal government can issue a suit. The police department is only responsible for preventing corruption among officers. If an officer is convicted they may be forced to pay high fines or be imprisoned. To be convicted the plaintiffs must prove that the officer was following the Blue Code of Silence or particpating in negligence and unlawful conduct. It is often hard to convict an officer of following the Blue Code of Silence or other forms of corruption because, officers are protected by defense of immunity which is an exemption from penalties and burdens that the law generally places on other citizens.
"U.S. Supreme Court decisions have continually asserted the general rule that officers must be given the benefit of the doubt that they acted lawfully in carrying out their day-to-day duties, a position reasserted in Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 121 S. Ct. 2151, 150 L. Ed. 2d 272 (2001)."
to hold hearings on the extent of corruption in the city's police department. Police officer Frank Serpico
's startling testimony against fellow officers not only revealed systemic corruption
but highlighted a longstanding obstacle to investigating these abuses: the fraternal understanding among police officers known variously as "the Code of Silence" and "the Blue Curtain" under which officers regard testimony against a fellow officer as betrayal."
After that the International Association of Chiefs of Police
made a code of police conduct publication and rigioursly trained police officers. That is when states issued Civilian Complaint Review Board
. In 1991 Rodney King
was brutally beaten by multiple police officers of Los Angeles Police Department
. The officers involved were expected to have been following the Blue Code of Silence. They claimed that the beating was lawful but it was not until a videotape of the incident was released when it was confirmed that the officers had collectively fabricated their stories.
"In the Cleveland case alone, the FBI arrested 42 officers from five law enforcement agencies in 1998 on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In a 1998 report to U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel, the federal General Accounting Office (GAO) found evidence of growing police involvement in drug sales, theft of drugs and money from drug dealers, and perjured testimony about illegal searches."
were known for using police officers to violently end strikes. Many members of the Ku Klux Klan were police officers that protected each other when conducting racist acts. This later gave rise to the Civil Rights Act of 1964,which gave new protections to citizens who had long suffered discriminatory policing.
"Additionally, a string of landmark Supreme Court decisions during the era gave new force both to individual privacy rights as well as to curbs upon Police Power: highly influential cases resulted in the strengthening of Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable Search and Seizure, evidentiary rules forbidding the use at trial of evidence tainted by unconstitutional police actions, and the establishment of the so-called Miranda Warning requiring officers to advise detained suspects of their constitutional rights."
This criminalized officers who did not have the necessary paperwork to conduct a search or who were involved in falsifying documents or committing perjury, also known as "testilying."
While learning jobs and duties, recruits will also learn the values needed to make it to a high rank in their organization. Some words used to describe these values are as follows: a sense of mission, action, cynicism
, pessimism, machismo
, suspicion, conservatism
, isolation and solidarity. The unique demands that are placed on police officers, such as the threat of danger, as well as scrutiny by the public, generate a tightly woven environment conducive to the development of feelings of loyalty
.
It is these very values that lead to what is now known as the “Blue Code of Silence”; isolation and solidarity lead to police officers sticking to their own kind, producing an us-against-them mentality. The us-against-them mentality that can result leads to officers backing each other up and staying loyal to one another; in some situations it leads to not “ratting” on fellow officers.
(police officers reporting other officers' misconduct) is not common. The low number of officers coming forward may have to do with the understanding that things happen in the heat of the moment that some officers would rather keep personal. Another reason officers may hesitate to go against the blue code may be that challenging the blue code would mean challenging long-standing traditions and feelings of brotherhood within the institution. The fear of consequences may play a large role as well. These consequences can include being shunned, losing friends, and losing back-up, as well as receiving physical threats or having one's own misconduct exposed.
There are also forces that work against the Blue Code of Silence and promote whistle-blowing. Many police officers do join the police force because they want to uphold the law; the blue code goes against this ideal. Some officers snitch for less noble motives, such as to retaliate
for mistreatment by fellow officers, to seek administrative recognition, or to prove loyalty to the department. Additionally, some officers are recruited by their administration to snitch. If it is in an officer's job description to find misconduct by other officers, he or she is more likely to go against the blue code. Officers who go against the blue code may have a deal to avoid being fired or to receive immunity from prosecution. Some officers have also been known to break the code to sell a story to the media.
Cases such as the Rampart Scandal
and many other police corruption
cases demonstrate that blue code culture can extend to cover-ups of other levels of crime, acquisitive or not. The Blue Wall of Silence has been called "America's Most Successful Stop Snitchin'
Campaign," referring to cases where police covered up the misdeeds of fellow officers and where whistleblower
s were harassed, professionally sanctioned, or forced into retirement.
. Through additional background checks, polygraph
testing, and psychological evaluations, certain departments are better able to select individuals who are less likely to condone wrongdoing. In these departments, police are exposed to a basic training curriculum that instructs on ethical behavior; this instruction is reinforced in seminars and classes annually in some cases.
Several campaigns against the blue code or for making the blue code more visible in the public eye have taken place in the United States. One of the first of these campaigns was the Knapp Commission
in New York (officially known as the Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption) which was headed by Mayor John V. Lindsay in 1970. Following the Knapp Commission was the Mollen Commission
. The Mollen Commission was established in 1992 by New York City Mayor David Dinkins
to investigate the nature and extent of corruption in the New York City Police Department NYPD, and to recommend changes to improve these procedures. These and other investigations have revealed details of the inner workings of the NYPD.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
not to report on another colleague's errors, misconducts or crimes. Other names associated with the Blue Code of Silence are the blue wall, curtain, veil, or cocoon. If questioned about an incident of misconduct involving another officer (e.g. during the course of an official inquiry), while following the Blue Code of Silence, the officer being questioned would claim ignorance of another officer's wrongdoing.
Some police officers enforce a tribal value system also known as an emotional value system which is considered to be a "police family" or "police brotherhood". The tribal value system is a part of the Blue Code of Silence. Members of the tribal system generally receive emotional support and security from other police officers. The Blue Code of Silence is considered to be controversial because it questions ethics and values in law enforcement. In some cases, many police officers have been pressured into following the Blue Code of Silence.
Tribal value system
New officers may especially feel pressured in to the tribal value system because they seek support and security from their peers. The tribal value system is driven by strong emotions of protecting fellow police officers and by defeating the "enemy." Having an "enemy" increases emotions and inputs fear and reliability into members. Police officers who are members then feel dependent on the tribal value system because they are scared and vulnerable to the enemy. Most members do not view criminals as the enemy, instead they identify police management, city officials and the media as their enemies. Members tend to not follow policies that come from police administrators, especially if they contradict the tribal value system.New York City and The Blue Code of Silence
Some police officers in New York City have been associated with the Blue Code of Silence. The Mollen CommissionMollen Commission
The Mollen Commission is formally known as The City of New York Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption and the Anti-Corruption Procedures of the Police Department. Former judge Milton Mollen was appointed in July 1992 by then New York City mayor David N. Dinkins to investigate...
said, "The pervasiveness of the code of silence is itself alarming." Cities that have the most crime tend to have more police officers that follow the Blue Code of Silence. It is important that officers show loyalty to each other when they patrol regularly in dangerous areas. One police officer from New York City said, "If a cop decided to tell on me, his career's ruined....He's going to be labeled as a rat."
Testilying
TestilyingTestilying
Testilying is a United States police slang term for the practice of giving false testimony against a defendant in a criminal trial. It is typically used to "make the case" against someone they believe to be guilty when minor irregularities during the suspect's arrest or search threaten to result...
is a term used when an officer gives a false testimony in court in favor of their fellow police officer. If an officer chooses not to lie in court they may be threatened or ostracized by fellow police officers. In 1994, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption also known as the Mollen Commission
Mollen Commission
The Mollen Commission is formally known as The City of New York Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption and the Anti-Corruption Procedures of the Police Department. Former judge Milton Mollen was appointed in July 1992 by then New York City mayor David N. Dinkins to investigate...
did a two year investigation on testilying in law enforcement. They discovered that some officers falsified documents such as arrest reports, warrants and evidence for an illegal arrest or search. Some police officers also fabricated stories to a jury. The Commission found that the officers were not testilying for greed but because they believed that they were imprisoning people that deserved it. Also many prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
s allowed testilying to occur. People involved in testilying believed that it was not corruption but yet another way to "get the job done."
Police corruption
Blue Code of Silence is considered to be police corruption and misconduct. Any officers that engaged in discriminatory arrests, physical or verbal harassment, and selective enforcement of the law are considered to be corrupt. Many officers that follow Blue Code of Silence may participate in some of these acts during their career for personal matters or in order to protect or support fellow officers. Some officers may accept bribes, get involved with extortion, steal goods or sell drugs. All of these are considered illegal offenses and are grounds for suspension or immediate dismissal. Officers that follow Blue Code of Silence are unable to report fellow officers that participate in corruption due to the unwritten laws of their "police family".Laws
Many police departments have their own "code of conduct". The department trains new recruits and investigates police officers if they have a complaint from a civilian. There are also some state laws put in place to help protect civilians from corrupted officers. If the officer is found guilty, officers can be sued by the victim for damage caused by excessive force ("police brutality"), false arrest and imprisonment, Malicious Prosecution, and Wrongful Death.Federal laws strongly prohibit officer misconduct including officers who follow the Blue Code of Silence by "testilying" or neglecting to report any officer that is participating in corruption. If an officer is in violation of any of the officer misconduct federal laws, only the federal government can issue a suit. The police department is only responsible for preventing corruption among officers. If an officer is convicted they may be forced to pay high fines or be imprisoned. To be convicted the plaintiffs must prove that the officer was following the Blue Code of Silence or particpating in negligence and unlawful conduct. It is often hard to convict an officer of following the Blue Code of Silence or other forms of corruption because, officers are protected by defense of immunity which is an exemption from penalties and burdens that the law generally places on other citizens.
"U.S. Supreme Court decisions have continually asserted the general rule that officers must be given the benefit of the doubt that they acted lawfully in carrying out their day-to-day duties, a position reasserted in Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 121 S. Ct. 2151, 150 L. Ed. 2d 272 (2001)."
Cases
"In 1970, New York City organized the Knapp CommissionKnapp Commission
The Knapp Commission stemmed from a five-member panel initially formed in April 1970 by Mayor John V. Lindsay to investigate corruption within the New York City Police Department...
to hold hearings on the extent of corruption in the city's police department. Police officer Frank Serpico
Frank Serpico
Francesco Vincent Serpico is a retired American New York City Police Department officer who is most famous for testifying against police corruption in 1971...
's startling testimony against fellow officers not only revealed systemic corruption
Systemic corruption
Systemic corruption is corruption which is primarily due to a weaknesses of an organisation or process.It can be contrasted with individual officials or agents who act corruptly within the system....
but highlighted a longstanding obstacle to investigating these abuses: the fraternal understanding among police officers known variously as "the Code of Silence" and "the Blue Curtain" under which officers regard testimony against a fellow officer as betrayal."
After that the International Association of Chiefs of Police
International Association of Chiefs of Police
The International Association of Chiefs of Police was founded in Chicago in 1893 as the National Chiefs of Police Union. The primary goal of this organization was to apprehend and return criminals who had fled the agency jurisdictions in which they were wanted...
made a code of police conduct publication and rigioursly trained police officers. That is when states issued Civilian Complaint Review Board
Civilian Complaint Review Board
The Civilian Complaint Review Board is an all-civilian board tasked with investigating civil complaints about alleged misconduct on the part of the New York Police Department.- History :...
. In 1991 Rodney King
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
was brutally beaten by multiple police officers of Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
. The officers involved were expected to have been following the Blue Code of Silence. They claimed that the beating was lawful but it was not until a videotape of the incident was released when it was confirmed that the officers had collectively fabricated their stories.
"In the Cleveland case alone, the FBI arrested 42 officers from five law enforcement agencies in 1998 on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In a 1998 report to U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel, the federal General Accounting Office (GAO) found evidence of growing police involvement in drug sales, theft of drugs and money from drug dealers, and perjured testimony about illegal searches."
History
Blue Code of Silence and police corruption stems from the mid-to-late nineteenth century. The Pinkerton National Detective AgencyPinkerton National Detective Agency
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, is a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired...
were known for using police officers to violently end strikes. Many members of the Ku Klux Klan were police officers that protected each other when conducting racist acts. This later gave rise to the Civil Rights Act of 1964,which gave new protections to citizens who had long suffered discriminatory policing.
"Additionally, a string of landmark Supreme Court decisions during the era gave new force both to individual privacy rights as well as to curbs upon Police Power: highly influential cases resulted in the strengthening of Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable Search and Seizure, evidentiary rules forbidding the use at trial of evidence tainted by unconstitutional police actions, and the establishment of the so-called Miranda Warning requiring officers to advise detained suspects of their constitutional rights."
This criminalized officers who did not have the necessary paperwork to conduct a search or who were involved in falsifying documents or committing perjury, also known as "testilying."
Police culture
Police culture or “cop culture," as it is sometimes called by police officers, has resulted in a barrier against stopping corrupt officers. Police culture involves a set of values and rules that have evolved through the experiences of officers and which are affected by the environment in which they work. From the beginning of their career at their academies, police are brought into this “cop culture."While learning jobs and duties, recruits will also learn the values needed to make it to a high rank in their organization. Some words used to describe these values are as follows: a sense of mission, action, cynicism
Cynicism
Cynicism , in its original form, refers to the beliefs of an ancient school of Greek philosophers known as the Cynics . Their philosophy was that the purpose of life was to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature. This meant rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, health, and...
, pessimism, machismo
Machismo
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
, suspicion, conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
, isolation and solidarity. The unique demands that are placed on police officers, such as the threat of danger, as well as scrutiny by the public, generate a tightly woven environment conducive to the development of feelings of loyalty
Loyalty
Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person, country, group, or cause There are many aspects to...
.
It is these very values that lead to what is now known as the “Blue Code of Silence”; isolation and solidarity lead to police officers sticking to their own kind, producing an us-against-them mentality. The us-against-them mentality that can result leads to officers backing each other up and staying loyal to one another; in some situations it leads to not “ratting” on fellow officers.
Whistle-blowing
Whistle-blowingWhistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
(police officers reporting other officers' misconduct) is not common. The low number of officers coming forward may have to do with the understanding that things happen in the heat of the moment that some officers would rather keep personal. Another reason officers may hesitate to go against the blue code may be that challenging the blue code would mean challenging long-standing traditions and feelings of brotherhood within the institution. The fear of consequences may play a large role as well. These consequences can include being shunned, losing friends, and losing back-up, as well as receiving physical threats or having one's own misconduct exposed.
There are also forces that work against the Blue Code of Silence and promote whistle-blowing. Many police officers do join the police force because they want to uphold the law; the blue code goes against this ideal. Some officers snitch for less noble motives, such as to retaliate
Retaliate
Retaliate is the debut album of Maryland death metal band Misery Index.Track 5 was previously recorded and released on a split with Structure of Lies.-Track listing:# "Retaliate" – 3:28# "The Lies That Bind" – 2:46# "The Great Depression" – 2:40...
for mistreatment by fellow officers, to seek administrative recognition, or to prove loyalty to the department. Additionally, some officers are recruited by their administration to snitch. If it is in an officer's job description to find misconduct by other officers, he or she is more likely to go against the blue code. Officers who go against the blue code may have a deal to avoid being fired or to receive immunity from prosecution. Some officers have also been known to break the code to sell a story to the media.
Levels of crime
Police officers are more likely to cover up certain kinds of errors by colleagues. One study showed that excessive use of force was the crime most commonly shielded by the Blue Code of Silence. Two studies suggest that some police feel that the code is applicable in cases of “illegal brutality or bending of the rules in order to protect colleagues from criminal proceedings," but not those of illegal actions with an “acquisitive motive."Cases such as the Rampart Scandal
Rampart Scandal
The Rampart scandal refers to widespread corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers in the CRASH unit were implicated in misconduct, making it one of the most...
and many other police corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
cases demonstrate that blue code culture can extend to cover-ups of other levels of crime, acquisitive or not. The Blue Wall of Silence has been called "America's Most Successful Stop Snitchin'
Stop Snitchin'
Stop Snitchin' refers to a controversial 2004 campaign launched in Baltimore, United States to persuade criminal informants to stop "snitching," or informing, to law enforcement...
Campaign," referring to cases where police covered up the misdeeds of fellow officers and where whistleblower
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
s were harassed, professionally sanctioned, or forced into retirement.
Exposing the Blue Code
One method of preventing the Blue Code of Silence from penetrating the police force is exposure. Many states have taken measures in police academies to promote the exposure of the blue code. In most areas, before being admitted into the academy one must pass a criminal background checkBackground check
A background check or background investigation is the process of looking up and compiling criminal records, commercial records and financial records of an individual....
. Through additional background checks, polygraph
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
testing, and psychological evaluations, certain departments are better able to select individuals who are less likely to condone wrongdoing. In these departments, police are exposed to a basic training curriculum that instructs on ethical behavior; this instruction is reinforced in seminars and classes annually in some cases.
Several campaigns against the blue code or for making the blue code more visible in the public eye have taken place in the United States. One of the first of these campaigns was the Knapp Commission
Knapp Commission
The Knapp Commission stemmed from a five-member panel initially formed in April 1970 by Mayor John V. Lindsay to investigate corruption within the New York City Police Department...
in New York (officially known as the Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption) which was headed by Mayor John V. Lindsay in 1970. Following the Knapp Commission was the Mollen Commission
Mollen Commission
The Mollen Commission is formally known as The City of New York Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption and the Anti-Corruption Procedures of the Police Department. Former judge Milton Mollen was appointed in July 1992 by then New York City mayor David N. Dinkins to investigate...
. The Mollen Commission was established in 1992 by New York City Mayor David Dinkins
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993; he was the first and is, to date, the only African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
to investigate the nature and extent of corruption in the New York City Police Department NYPD, and to recommend changes to improve these procedures. These and other investigations have revealed details of the inner workings of the NYPD.
See also
- OmertaOmertàOmertà is a popular attitude and code of honour and a common definition is the "code of silence". It is common in areas of southern Italy, such as Sicily, Apulia, Calabria, and Campania, where criminal organizations defined as Mafia such as the Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Sacra Corona Unita, and...
- Chicago Police DepartmentChicago Police DepartmentThe Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
- NYPD
- Frank SerpicoFrank SerpicoFrancesco Vincent Serpico is a retired American New York City Police Department officer who is most famous for testifying against police corruption in 1971...
- Joseph GrayJoseph Gray (police officer)Joseph Gray is a New York City Police Department officer who killed three pedestrians on August 4, 2001 while driving drunk in Brooklyn. The event "mushroomed into scandal" when it was discovered that other officers were drinking with Gray in a topless bar and a nearby precinct parking lot before...
- Rampart ScandalRampart ScandalThe Rampart scandal refers to widespread corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers in the CRASH unit were implicated in misconduct, making it one of the most...
- Stop Snitchin'Stop Snitchin'Stop Snitchin' refers to a controversial 2004 campaign launched in Baltimore, United States to persuade criminal informants to stop "snitching," or informing, to law enforcement...
External links
- Gabriel J. ChinGabriel J. ChinGabriel Jack Chin is an author, legal scholar, and Professor at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Chin is the Chester H. Smith Professor of Law and co-director of the Program in Criminal Law and Policy at the James E. Rogers College of Law, and Professor at the School of...
and Scott Wells, The "Blue Wall of Silence" as Evidence of Bias and Motive to Lie: A New Approach to Police Perjury, 59 University of Pittsburgh Law Review 233 (1998).