Policing the police

Self Cite

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the contours of the police code of silence, a critical component of the ability to control misconduct and enhance integrity within any police agency. Unlike the extant research, dominated by single-country studies, this paper provides an in-depth exploration of the code across five countries and tests the relation between the code of science and societal characteristics. Design/methodology/approach A police integrity survey was used to measure the contours of the code of silence among police officers in Australia (n=856), Croatia (n=966), South Africa (n=871), South Korea (n=379) and the USA (n=664). The respondents evaluated 11 hypothetical scenarios describing various forms of police misconduct. Findings Bivariate analyses reveal considerable divergence in the code of silence across the five countries. Multivariate models of the code of silence show that, next to organizational factors (i.e. the respondents’ assessment of peers’ willingness to report, evaluations of misconduct seriousness and expected discipline) and individual factors (i.e. supervisory status), societal factors (i.e. the Corruption Perceptions Index score and the percent of irreligious citizens) are significant predictors of the respondents’ willingness to report. Research limitations/implications While the same questionnaire was used in all five countries, the nature of the data collection differed somewhat across the countries (e.g. online survey vs paper-and-pencil survey), as did the nature of the samples (e.g. representative sample vs convenience sample). Practical implications Perceived peer pressure, measured as the perceptions of whether other police officers would adhere to the code of silence, is the key variable explaining the police officers’ expressed willingness to adhere to the code of silence. Changing the police officers’ perceptions of peer culture and potentially changing the peer culture itself should be critical elements in the toolbox of any administrator willing to curtail the code of silence. Originality/value Whereas the study of the code of silence has started several decades ago, no prior study has tested the effects of organizational and societal variables on the code of silence in a comparative perspective.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

A comparative study of the police code of silence

Ivković¹,

Haberfeld²,

Wook³

et al. 2019

Self Cite

“…However, it is not clear how disciplinary fairness is related to officers' willingness to report a colleague's misconduct (Kutnjak Ivković and Shelley, 2010). Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars (1998) provided three models to explain the relationship between the code of silence and disciplinary fairness. The simplified deterrence model (Figure 1) suggests that severe discipline could weaken the code of silence (Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars, 1998).…”

Section: The Code Of Silence and Disciplinary Fairnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars (1998) provided three models to explain the relationship between the code of silence and disciplinary fairness. The simplified deterrence model (Figure 1) suggests that severe discipline could weaken the code of silence (Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars, 1998). According to this model, officers who view discipline as harsh are more willing to report misconduct than are those who view discipline as fair or lenient.…”

Section: The Code Of Silence and Disciplinary Fairnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The discipline indifference model (Figure 2) indicates that there is no relationship between the code of silence and the perceived severity of discipline. In this framework, the severity of potential discipline is not an effective tool for encouraging police officers to break the code of silence (Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars, 1998). The simple justice model (Figure 3) predicts that officers who perceive discipline as fair are more likely to report misconduct than are those who perceive discipline as too severe (Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars, 1998).…”

Section: The Code Of Silence and Disciplinary Fairnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this framework, the severity of potential discipline is not an effective tool for encouraging police officers to break the code of silence (Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars, 1998). The simple justice model (Figure 3) predicts that officers who perceive discipline as fair are more likely to report misconduct than are those who perceive discipline as too severe (Kutnjak Ivković and Klockars, 1998). In other words, discipline is more effective for weakening the code of silence when it is viewed by police officers as fair than when it is perceived to be too harsh.…”

Section: The Code Of Silence and Disciplinary Fairnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A reexamination of the code of silence and disciplinary fairness in South Korea over 11 years

Wook

Ivković

Jung

2022

PurposeThis paper aims to provide an in-depth exploration of the code of silence in Korean policing and its relationship to perceptions of disciplinary fairness.Design/methodology/approachThe authors separately surveyed 370 Korean police officers in 2008 and 356 Korean police officers in 2019. The respondents were asked to evaluate seven hypothetical scenarios measuring different types of police misconduct from police corruption to the use of excessive force.FindingsThe results demonstrated that the strength of the code of silence decreased over a decade. The code of silence seems to protect less serious examples of police misconduct more strongly than more serious examples of police misconduct. Furthermore, the extent of the code of silence and perceptions of discipline severity are closely related in situations in which the expected discipline is evaluated by officers as too harsh. When police officers evaluated the expected discipline as fair, they were less likely to adhere to the code of silence than when they evaluated the expected discipline as too harsh, providing support for the simple justice model. On the other hand, the results are mixed for comparisons of the code of silence among respondents who evaluated discipline as fair and those who evaluated discipline as too lenient.Originality/valueThis is one of few studies focusing on the potential changes in the code of silence over time and on its relationship with the perception of disciplinary fairness. South Korea has conducted a reform of the police (the Grand Reform) in the late 1990s and more recently enacted the new laws regulating police misconduct. This study relies on two independent surveys of the same population of police officersto empirically assesses potential changes resulting from these societal and organizational transformations.

Exploring the factors related to citizens' willingness to report police misconduct

Ivković

Liu

Vinogradac

et al. 2022

PurposeThis study examines the effects of diffuse support for the police, specific support for the police, experience with the police, and demographic characteristics on citizens' own expressed willingness to report police misconduct. The authors surveyed immigrants from Croatia who now reside in Germany and Ireland to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relative role these factors play in regard to immigrants' willingness to report misconduct in Croatia.Design/methodology/approachThe study, based on a survey of 358 Croatian immigrants to Germany and 226 Croatian immigrants to Ireland, utilizes multivariate logistic regression models that assess factors affecting the respondents' expressed willingness to report police misconduct in their homeland and their current countries of residence.FindingsThe authors' multivariate models reveal that diffuse support for the police (e.g. confidence in the police and perceptions of widespread police corruption) plays a strong and significant role in explaining the respondents' willingness to report misconduct in the authors' initial models. However, the direct effect of the diffuse support completely disappears in most of the models once scenario-specific police integrity measures (e.g. views of expected discipline severity and estimates whether police officers would report misconduct) are included as well. With the exception of age, other demographic characteristics and contact with the police were not systematically and significantly related to the respondents' willingness to report.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical study to provide an in-depth exploration of various factors associated with the citizens' willingness to report police misconduct.