Police Code of Silence in Times of Change

Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovic is Professor at the School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University and the Chair of the American Society of Criminology International Division. She holds a doctorate degree in criminology (Ph.D., University of Delaware) and a doctorate degree in law (S.J.D., Harvard University). Dr. Kutnjak Ivkovic received the 2017 Mueller Award for Distinguished Contributions to International Criminal Justice, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences International Section. Prof. Kutnjak Ivkovic has authored/co-authored five books: Police Integrity in South Africa (2020; with Sauerman, A., Faull, A., Meyer, M., and G. Newham, Routledge); Reclaiming Justice. (2011; with John Hagan, Oxford University Press); Enhancing Police Integrity (2006; with Klockars, C. B., and M. R. Haberfeld; Springer); Fallen Blue Knights: Controlling Police Corruption (2005; Oxford University Press); and Lay Participation in Criminal Trials: The Case of Croatia (1999; Austin & Winfield Publishers). She has also co-edited four books: Juries, Lay Judges, and Mixed Courts: A Global Perspective (2020; with Diamond, S.S., Hans, V. P., and N. S. Marder, Cambridge University Press); Exploring Police Integrity: Novel Approaches to Police Integrity Theory and Methodology (2019; with M. R. Haberfeld, Springer); Police Integrity across the World (2015; with M. R. Haberfeld, Springer); The Contours of Police Integrity (2004; with Carl B. Klockars and M. R. Haberfeld, Sage). Her book Reclaiming Justice. (2011; with John Hagan) won the 2014 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences International Section Book Award and was the Finalist at the 2011 American Society of Criminology International Division Book Award. Prof. Kutnjak Ivkovic has also authored/co-authored over 50 journal articles and 50 book chapters. Her work has appeared in leading academic and law journals such as the Law and Society Review; Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology; Criminology and Public Policy; Law and Policy; Stanford Journal of International Law; Cornell International Law Journal; Policing and Society; Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management; Police Quarterly; European Journal of Criminology.Jon Maskály is Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of North Dakota. He holds a doctoral degree in criminology from the University of South Florida. Dr. Maskály won (with co-authors) the 2016 William L. Simon Outstanding Paper award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. He has authored or co-authored 29 journal articles and four book chapters. He currently serves on the Editorial Board for Law and Human Behavior. In 2014, Dr. Maskály received the Outstanding Reviewer Award for reviews completed for Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management. He also reviews for 25 different journals including: Justice Quarterly, The Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.Ahmet Kule is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice in the Department of Social, Cultural, and Justice Studies at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. He received his Master's Degree (2005) and Doctorate (2007) in Criminal Justice from the City University of New York. Before joining the UTC, he served at several institutions including the NATO School in Germany (senior instructor), Center of Excellence (NATO-Ankara), Turkish National Police, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Montclair State University. He primarily teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in terrorism, homeland security, cybercrime, policing, hate crimes, justice policies, and comparative criminal justice. Dr. Kule has conducted research in the areas of national security, terrorism, radicalization, policing,c

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

 

Grounds the police code of silence in police officers' views of their police organization

1. The pressing need to study the code of silence.- 2. Code of silence and the theory of police integrity.- 3. Code of silence and police self-legitimacy.- 4. Code of silence and the police organization.- 5. Code of silence and the society at large.- 6. Lessons learned.