Blue Code Of Silence Essay

Blue Code of Silence in Large Agencies This paper will examine the “blue code of silence” that has been the source of controversy and a major critique of policing. I will argue that it is unethical and not firmly planted largely in police culture; contrary to present day media outlet’s reports. I will first, define the term “blue code of silence” and discuss why it is unethical. I will continue by shedding light on recent reports, interviews, and publications that show that corruption is not as common in large departments as popular media outlets portray. Our text book defines the “blue code of silence” as; “the practice of police officers to remain silent when fellow officers commit unethical actions” (Pollock, 2014). The author gives examples
This fuels hate crimes, civil unrest, and leads a society to question whether or not the “blue code of silence” is reality or fiction. This is an important issue because one of the main goals of law enforcement is to obtain public trust and be a conduit for civil service. In the The PoliceChief, there was an article titled; Code of Silence: Fact or fiction. In it, an argument is made in support of the “blue code of silence” being an out of proportion, media driven, hysteria (Ferrell, 2003). It goes on to state that after an investigation conducted within the Houston police department on data from 1992-2002, more than 50% of the complaints were filed from internal complaints as opposed to external sources (Ferrell,2003). This data was compared to 7 other major departments (Arlington, Dallas, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Columbus, Memphis and El Paso) and the investigation concluded that the departments’ results were similar to Houston’s (Ferrell, 2003). This data point alone, of more than half of complaints being formed from inside these large departments, should show that officers are not willing to cover-up each other’s