Decoding the Code of Silence

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Kutnjak Ivković ◽  
Maki Haberfeld ◽  
Robert Peacock
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
East Coast ◽  
The United States ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Code Of Silence ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Police Accountability ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Police Integrity

The code of silence—the informal prohibition of reporting misconduct by fellow police officers—has long been viewed as a serious obstacle in control of police misconduct and achievement of police accountability. The purpose of this article is to study the key correlates of police officers’ reluctance to report. Relying upon a theory of police integrity and the accompanying methodology to study the code, a police integrity survey was administered in 2013 and 2014 to measure the contours of police integrity among 604 police officers from 11 police agencies located in the Midwest and the East Coast of the United States. The questionnaire contains descriptions of 11 scenarios describing various forms of police misconduct, each followed by seven questions measuring officer views of scenario seriousness, the appropriate and expected discipline, and willingness to report misconduct. Multivariate analyses reveal that the key factor related to the police officers’ reluctance to report is the perception that the other officers would not report. The code is also negatively related to familiarity with the official rules, evaluation of misconduct as serious, and the expectation of harsher discipline. The methodology can be used either by the police agencies themselves or by the civilian oversights to assess the nature and extent of the code in the police agency.

The code of silence and female police officers in Slovenia

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Branko Lobnikar ◽  
Kaja Prislan ◽  
Barbara Čuvan ◽  
Gorazd Meško
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Police Chiefs ◽  
Police Corruption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Code Of Silence ◽  
Female Police Officers ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Police Integrity

Purpose – For some time now, research conducted in the field of human behavior and criminology has pertained to the contemporary question as to whether there are any relevant differences between the genders regarding their integrity and opinions held and, if so, which of these lead to different behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there are any gender differences in willingness to report police misconduct and if so, what is the nature of these differences. Design/methodology/approach – In spring 2011, the study was conducted on a representative sample of 408 frontline Slovenian police officers (87.3 percent were male and 12.7 percent were female). The assessment of the code of silence was conducted using the method developed by Klockars and Kutnjak Ivković (2004), and consisted of 14 hypothetical scenarios describing a range of various forms of police misconduct, from those that merely give the appearance of a conflict of interest, to incidents of bribery and theft. One of the questions explored in relation to the police code of silence was the police officer’s willingness to report misconduct. Findings – Authors discovered significant differences in 11 of the 14 analyzed cases on the willingness to report police misconduct. Interestingly, female police officers were less willing than their male colleagues to report different forms of police misconduct. Female police officers are less willing to report police corruption in seven cases e.g. shooting runaway suspect, supervisor abusing his/her power, excessive force – punching a suspect, falsification of evidence, supervisor not prevent beating a suspect, police officer take bribes, and doing nothing when juveniles paint graffiti. The results were further analyzed from the group dynamic in Slovenian police point of view. The survey findings could be useful for police chiefs, leaders, and managers who want to achieve the main objective of every modern police organization: to prevent corruption and increase social responsibility. Originality/value – The study analyzes, comprehensively and originally, whether the female police officers differ from their male colleagues in the level of police integrity and willingness to report the cases of police corruption and/or other forms of police misbehavior.

Does discipline fairness matter for the police code of silence? Answers from the US supervisors and line officers

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Kutnjak Ivković ◽  
Robert Peacock ◽  
Maria Haberfeld
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Code Of Silence ◽  
Police Supervisors ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Police Integrity ◽  
Line Officers

Purpose – Following the theoretical model of reporting and disciplinary fairness developed by Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars (1998), the purpose of this paper is to use a survey of US police officers to explore empirically the contours of the code of silence and the potential relation between the code and perceptions of disciplinary fairness. Design/methodology/approach – In 2013-2014, a police integrity survey was used to measure the contours of police integrity among 604 police officers from 11 police agencies located in the Midwest and on the East Coast of the USA. The questionnaire contains descriptions of 11 scenarios describing various forms of police misconduct, followed by seven questions measuring officer views of scenario seriousness, the appropriate and expected discipline, and willingness to report misconduct. Findings – The results point out that the code of silence varies greatly across the scenarios, both for supervisors and line officers. While the supervisor code and the line officer code differ substantially, they are the most similar for the scenarios evaluated as the most serious. Compared to the respondents who evaluated expected discipline as fair, the respondents who evaluated it as too harsh were more likely to say that they would adhere to the code. On the other hand, compared to the respondents who evaluated discipline as fair, the respondents who evaluate the expected discipline as too lenient were as likely to adhere to the code. Research limitations/implications – The data were collected online, resulting in a lower response rates those typical of traditional paper surveys. Practical implications – The results of the research allow police supervisors interested in the controlling the code of silence to assess where the code is the weakest and easiest to break. Furthermore, the findings suggest to the supervisors who want to curtail the code that the strategy of meting out discipline perceived by line officers as too harsh will potentially only strengthen the code. Originality/value – Whereas the study of the code of silence has started several decades ago, empirical studies exploring the relation between the code of silence and perceptions of disciplinary fairness are rare.

Police integrity in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 563-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangzhen Wu ◽  
David A. Makin ◽  
Yongtao Li ◽  
Francis D. Boateng ◽  
Gassan Abess
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Excessive Force ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Code Of Silence ◽  
Official Policy ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Police System ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Police Integrity ◽  
Chinese Police

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the contours of police integrity among Chinese police officers. Specifically, this study explores how Chinese police evaluate integrity based on official policy governing interactions, discipline governing infractions, views of seriousness, and willingness to inform when others engage in misconduct. Design/methodology/approach In total, 353 police officers were surveyed representing those attending in-service training program at a Chinese police university in May 2015. Questionnaires containing 11 scenarios describing police misbehaviors were distributed to officers during classes. Findings There was a strong correlation between officers’ perceptions of rule-violation, misconduct seriousness, discipline, and willingness to report. Additionally, preliminary results suggest there exists a code of silence among Chinese officers, and that Chinese officers hold a lenient attitude toward the use of excessive force. Research limitations/implications This study utilizes a convenient sample, which restricts the generalizability of the results. Practical implications The results indicate the existence of code of silence among Chinese officers and their lenient attitude toward the use of excessive force. Originality/value Although there has been a growing body of research examining police integrity in both western democracies and transitional societies, China as the largest developing nation in the world and with a unique police system (falls somewhere between the centralized model and the integrated model) is understudied. This study addresses this gap in previous literature by exploring the contours of police integrity among Chinese police officers.

Police integrity in South Korea

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Kutnjak Ivković ◽  
Wook Kang
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Excessive Force ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Code Of Silence ◽  
Korean Police Officers ◽  
Police Integrity

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the contours of police integrity among Korean police officers a decade after police reform was started.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected in 2009 at the Korean National Police University (KNPU) and the Police Comprehensive Academy (PCA). The questionnaires distributed to police officers contained 14 vignettes describing various forms of police misconduct. The sample consists of 329 police officers, mostly non‐supervisors, attending courses at the KNPU and PCA.FindingsResults indicate that the contours of police integrity vary across different forms of misconduct. Regardless of whether the respondents' views were measured through questions about misconduct seriousness, appropriate discipline, willingness to report, or knowledge about official rules, the findings suggest that Korean police officers perceived corruption as a serious form of police misconduct, while they considered the use of excessive force to be substantially less serious. In addition, a strong code of silence among the police was detected.Research limitations/implicationsThe study examines the contours of police integrity among a convenience sample of police officers from South Korea.Practical implicationsThe Korean police administrators interested in controlling police misconduct could utilize this methodology to explore the contours of the code of silence among the Korean police. The results of the study indicate that substantial focus should be put on changing police officer views about the use of excessive force and narrowing the code of silence in general.Social implicationsThe results show that the contours of police integrity among South Korean police officers clearly reflect the attitudes and views of the society at large toward corruption and use of excessive force. The lenient attitudes that South Korean police officers have expressed regarding the use of excessive force reflect both the historical attitudes and the lack of clarity of official rules. The strong code of silence is related to the insufficient protection for whistleblowers and the adherence to Confucianism among Korean citizens.Originality/valuePrior research predominantly measured police integrity as the opposite of police corruption in Western democracies and East European countries in transition. This research expands this by focusing on different forms of police misconduct. In addition, it explores integrity in an Asian democracy with the police agency undergoing extensive reform.

An empirical test of the influence of society at large on police integrity in a centralized police system

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Kutnjak Ivković ◽  
Irena Cajner Mraović ◽  
Krunoslav Borovec
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Fourth Dimension ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Analytical Strategies ◽  
Police System ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Police Integrity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the theory of police integrity, particularly its fourth dimension, on a centralized police agency and to assess the degree to which levels of police integrity are related to the characteristics of the larger environment. Design/methodology/approach – In 2008, a stratified representative sample of 945 Croatian police officers from ten police administrations evaluated 11 hypothetical scenarios describing a range of various forms of police misconduct. The questionnaire measures officer views regarding scenario seriousness, appropriate and expected discipline, and willingness to report the misconduct. Findings – Bivariate analyses show that police officers’ evaluations of seriousness differed across categories of police administrations for more than one-half of the scenarios. Multivariate analyses reveal that, once organizational predictors are entered into the models, community characteristics remain significant predictors of seriousness evaluations for only a few scenarios. Research limitations/implications – The analytical strategies were limited by the number of police administrations in the country. Practical implications – The results indicate that levels of police integrity in large, centralized organizations vary across units and that the characteristics of the communities the police are a contributing factor to these differences. At the same time, organizational characteristics carry substantial weight. Originality/value – Prior studies of police integrity focussed on the organizational aspects (the first three dimensions of the theory); the present paper extends the literature to ascertain the importance of the larger environment and its characteristics for levels of police integrity (the fourth dimension of the police integrity theory).

The code of silence and ethical perceptions

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 370-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise E Porter ◽  
Tim Prenzler
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Ethical Perceptions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Unethical Conduct ◽  
Code Of Silence ◽  
Ethical Decisions ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore Australian police officers’ perceptions of unethical conduct scenarios with the aim of understanding unwillingness to report infractions. Design/methodology/approach – The responses of 845 officers were compared across 11 scenarios to explore variation in the extent to which they understood the behaviour to violate policy and their hypothetical willingness, or unwillingness, to report the behaviour. Particularly, it was hypothesised that non-reporters may justify their inaction based on the misperception that other officers hold even less ethical beliefs. Findings – Five scenarios emerged as least likely to be reported, with a substantial minority of officers stating their decision was despite their understanding that the behaviour constituted a policy violation. Contrary to predictions, these “non-reporters” were aware they were less likely to report than their colleagues, but believed they held the same views as their colleagues in terms of the seriousness of scenarios. Comparisons between non-reporters and other survey participants, however, found this belief to be false, with non-reporters viewing the scenarios as significantly less serious. A perceived self-other difference, along with a belief that others will report were shown to reduce the likelihood of not reporting. Practical implications – The results are discussed in terms of increasing willingness to report misconduct through organisational efforts to communicate values and support officers to make ethical decisions. Originality/value – The paper contributes to understanding the “code of silence” in perpetuating police misconduct and how it may be reduced.

A multi-country comparative study of the perceived police disciplinary environments

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 338-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Kutnjak Ivković ◽  
Maria Haberfeld ◽  
Wook Kang ◽  
Robert Peacock ◽  
Adri Sauerman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Variables ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Police Integrity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test an aspect of the theory of police integrity by exploring the perceived disciplinary threat made by police agencies in Croatia, South Africa, South Korea, and the USA. Design/methodology/approach – A police integrity survey was used to assess perceptions of the expected discipline meted out by police agencies in four countries. Samples of police officers from Croatia, South Africa, South Korea, and the USA evaluated 11 hypothetical scenarios describing various forms of police misconduct. Findings – Bi-variate analyses reveal considerable divergence of perceptions of disciplinary consequences across the four countries. The majority of the respondents in each country expected some discipline for every scenario, but dismissal was expected for very few scenarios. Multivariate models of perceptions of expected discipline show that the country effect remains strong in the majority of the scenarios even in the presence of numerous controls. Research limitations/implications – To accommodate the diversity of legal rules, answers providing disciplinary options were not identical across countries. Some of the samples are representative, while others are convenience samples. Practical implications – The results show that, controlling for societal integrity, organizational variables play a critical role in shaping the respondents’ perceptions of expected discipline. Teaching police officers official rules might be an effective tool toward attaining more accurate perceptions of expected discipline. Originality/value – Police integrity research is dominated by single-country studies; this paper provides an in-depth exploration of perceptions of expected discipline across four countries.

scholarly journals Transitioning from pandemic to normalcy: what police departments can learn from the rank-and-file

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne E. Gaub ◽  
Marthinus C. Koen ◽  
Shelby Davis
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coding Schemes ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Police Executives ◽  
Police Personnel

PurposeAfter more than 18 months of life during a pandemic, much of the world is beginning to transition back to some semblance of normalcy. As that happens, institutions – including policing – need to acknowledge changes that had been made during the pandemic and decide what modifications and innovations, if any, to continue moving forward.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use semi-structured interviews and focus groups of police personnel in the United States (US) and Canada. The sample includes police officers and frontline supervisors (n = 20). The authors conduct qualitative analysis using deductive and inductive coding schemes.FindingsThe sample identified four areas of adaptation during the pandemic: 1) safety measures, 2) personnel reallocation, 3) impacts on training and 4) innovation and role adjustments. These areas of adaptation prompted several recommendations for transitioning police agencies out of the pandemic.Originality/valueA growing number of studies are addressing police responses to the pandemic. Virtually all are quantitative in nature, including all studies investigating the perceptions of police personnel. The body of perceptual studies is extraordinarily small and primarily focuses on police executives, ignoring the views of the rank-and-file who are doing the work of street-level police business. This is the first study to delve into the perceptions of this group, and does so using a qualitative approach that permits a richer understanding of the nuances of perception.

Expanding the measurement of police integrity

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Hickman ◽  
Alex R. Piquero ◽  
Zachary A. Powell ◽  
Jack Greene
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Occupational Culture ◽  
Level Variation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negative Behaviors ◽  
Perceived Seriousness ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Police Integrity

Purpose– Klockarset al.use scenario methodology to measure perceived seriousness, level of discipline warranted, and willingness to report fellow officers engaged in various negative behaviors. These data are used to characterize the occupational culture of integrity in a given agency, relative to other agencies. What remains unclear is whether these agency-level findings mask important meso- and micro-level variation in the data (i.e. at the precinct/district and officer levels) that may contribute to a more complete understanding of an agency’s culture of integrity. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– This study replicates and extends Klockarset al.’s work using data from a survey administered to 499 Philadelphia police officers, with the goal of both validating their methodological approach and exploring the need for multi-level theory in the study of police integrity. In addition to comparing the results from Philadelphia to those obtained by Klockarset al., the authors test for differences across officer demographics, and explore variance in the willingness to report various behaviors at both the officer- and district-levels.Findings– Results indicate that bivariate relationships between officer-level demographics and willingness to report fellow officers are negated when controlling for theoretically relevant attitudinal variables such as cynicism and, consistent with Klockarset al., perceived seriousness of the underlying behavior. In addition, there is significant district-level variation in the average willingness to report fellow officers, and this variation can be explained by both organizational and environmental variables. On balance, the findings provide support for a multi-level approach to the study of police integrity.Originality/value– While the Klockarset al.approach addresses macro-level variation in police integrity, this study contributes important findings at the meso- and micro-levels.

Police officer integrity: a partial replication and extension

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeyoung Lim ◽  
John J. Sloan
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Police Supervisors ◽  
Municipal Police ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Police Integrity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to partially replicate and extend the work of Klockars et al. and others on police integrity by examining how individual, organizational, and ecological factors affect police supervisors’ perceptions of police misconduct and willingness to report fellow officers’ misconduct. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys containing 17 scenarios developed by Klockars et al. (2000, 2004, 2006) were administered to 553 ranking officers attending training at the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas from June 1, 2009 to March 1, 2010 and employed by municipal police departments, county sheriff’s departments, and constable agencies. Findings – Results suggest that individual and organizational factors affect supervisor willingness to blow the whistle on underling misconduct, although their effects varied by seriousness of the behavior. Originality/value – The current project partially replicates and extends prior studies of factors affecting police integrity by surveying supervisors, measuring their willingness to whistle blow, and including variables in statistical models that prior studies have not included.

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