The Pressing Need to Study the Code of Silence

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter summarizes the most recent calls for defunding and reforming police organizations around the country. A number of high-profile cases that focused primarily on the alleged notions of excessive use of force contributed to the explosion of criticism of the legitimacy of police actions. No time has been more critical in terms of the study of police integrity than now. This importance is further underscored by the need to connect the public outcry, mostly based on anecdotal accounts of police performance, to empirical research that has been in existence for over two decades and has produced valuable and implementable solutions. The pressing need to study the nature of the police code of silence and its resistance to change will be illustrated by our analyses of one case study, expanding the traditional police integrity framework developed by Klockars and colleagues in the past two decades.