- Blue Code of Silence
The Blue Code of Silence is an unwritten code of "honour" among many police officers in which reporting another officer's errors, misconduct, or crimes is regarded as a betrayal.
Studies demonstrate that most 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 to illegal actions with an "acquisitive motive." [cite news | title = Police Ethics and Integrity: Breaking the Blue Code of Silence | url = http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713729144 | publisher = "Policing and Society" | author = Louise Westmarland | date = June 2005 | accessdate = 2007-08-28 ] [cite news | title = Breaking the blue code |url = http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=869 | publisher = Metro Times | author = Ann Mullen | date = 2000-11-08 | accessdate = 2007-08-28 ]
Nevertheless, cases such as the
Rampart Scandal demonstrate that blue code culture can sometimes extend to cover-ups of every level of crime, acquisitive or otherwise.Other terms that can have a similar meaning include the "Blue Wall of Silence" and "the
Thin Blue Line ".ee also
*
Police misconduct
*Police brutality
*Thin Blue Line
*Code of Silence
*Frank Serpico
*Christopher Commission
*Rampart Scandal
*Omertà References
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