This book explores the contours of the code of silence and provides policy recommendations geared toward creating an environment less conducive for police misconduct. It responds to the recent calls for police reform, in the wake of the perceived illegitimacy of police actions and the protection that the code of silence seems to provide to the police officers who violate the official rules.Using a case study of a medium-sized U.S. police agency, this book employs the lens of police integrity theory to provide empirically grounded explanations of the code of silence. It examines the potential effects of organizational factors and the attitudes of individual police officers on their willingness to adhere to the code of silence in cases of police corruption, the use of excessive force, interpersonal deviance, and organizational deviance. The book focuses on the following factors that could influence the police code of silence in the times of change: The impact of organizational rule dissemination, discipline, and disciplinary fairness on the scope of the code of silence The role organizational justice plays in shaping police officer willingness to report misconduct The effect that police officers’ self-legitimacy has on their decisions to adhere to the code The influence of peer culture on individual police officer amenability to maintain the code The relationship between officers’ views of themselves, the organization, and the community on their willingness to report misconduct .

Wallking With the Devil is required ethics reading in law enforcement academies and college programs across the United States. It is the foundational resource for the Peer Intervention training featured in the New York Times regarding New Orleans Police Department (EPIC) and the Police Executive Research Forum.

This research analyzes a cultural institution in policing that is often not discussed; yet, deeply influences police behavior. The absence of written policies on the police code of silence indicates a form of cognitive dissonance between policies and practices. For many citizens, the perception that a code of silence exist and that the code is utilized to cover up police misconduct severely undermines community policing efforts.One incident of police misconduct and a perceived cover up can destroy years of trust building. This research is a must read because it allows citizens, police cadets, and police reformers to gain an inside view of policing from upper echelon police personnel who provided case scenarios of the code of silence. One of the findings associated with this research was that officers experienced a taxonomy of various fears which influenced how they performed their jobs. One such fear was, the fear of retaliation if an officer reported the misconduct of a fellow officer. As the research reveals, these courageous officers were ostracized, criminally framed, discredited, retaliated, demoted, fired, punished, and even murdered in order to silence them. These officers became the police department's example to other officers who wanted to report misconduct. This author, researcher, and law enforcement practitioner believes many of the systemic problems (serial police violators) facing policing can be traced back to the unresolved issue of the police code of silence. Within this document, most criminal justice researchers point out that the code of silence protects mismanagement and corruption by upper echelon police leaders. Because of police mistrust, many communities of color continue to ask for an independent review board with subpoena power. The public should read this document to further educate themselves based on the interviews and knowledge shared by police leadership personnel in various communities across the country. In closing, I believe this information along with its' recommendations will assist any community in improving police accountability.

"The Police in America" provides a comprehensive introduction to the foundations of policing in the United States today. Descriptive and analytical, the text is designed to offer undergraduate students a balanced and up-to-date overview of who the police are and what they do, the problems they face, and the many reforms and innovations that have taken place in policing. Using timely articles and excerpts, the authors take readers beyond the headlines and statistics to present a comprehensive and contemporary overview of what it means to be a police officer.

A former Chicago cop exposes shocking truths about the abuses of power within the city's police department in this memoir of violence, drugs, and men with badges. Juarez becomes a police officer because he wants to make a difference in gang-infested neighborhoods; but, as this book reveals, he ends up a corrupt member of the most powerful gang of all—the Chicago police force. Juarez shares the horrific indiscretions he witnessed during his seven years of service, from the sexually predatory officer, X, who routinely stops beautiful women for made-up traffic offenses and flirts with domestic violence victims, to sadistic Locallo, known on the streets as Locoman, who routinely stops gang members and beats them senseless. Working as a narcotics officer, Juarez begins to join his fellow officers in crossing the line between cop and criminal, as he takes advantage of his position and also becomes a participant in a system of racial profiling legitimized by the war on drugs. Ultimately, as Juarez discusses, his conscience gets the better of him and he tries to reform, only to be brought down by his own excesses. From the perspective of an insider, he tells of widespread abuses of power, random acts of brutality, and the code of silence that keeps law enforcers untouchable.

This book shines a light on the fear and mental health concerns that exist not only in underserved communities but also within the law enforcement profession. Through a series of flashbacks, personal stories, and historical connections, Breaking the Code of Silence, serves as a dialogue-starter than can create greater understandings as to why and how healing and bridge building can take place.