An ethical issue that all police officers face is breaking the unwritten law i.e. “The Blue Wall Of Silence”. “The Blue Wall Of Silence” is unwritten code among police officers that they are not to report their fellow officers. Officers that do not follow this code are then excommunicated from the department, so to speak, and lose everything that they’ve worked so hard to achieve. They are labeled as snitches and are no longer welcome within a department; upper management can even punish officers leading to officers not wanting to break The Blue Wall Of Silence and not “whistle blow” on their fellow officers. In this paper I will argue that because of The Blue Wall Of Silence and the character of the police department makes whistleblowing
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Graham) It is expected of officers to turn in other officers for any form of misconduct, in fact according to the Los Angeles Police Department’s employee policies, “an employee’s obligation to report and prevent misconduct begins they moment the employee becomes a member of the Los Angeles Police Department,” and that “all Department employees are responsible for preventing and reporting misconduct.” (LAPD) It seems like a simple enough concept, if a coworker is doing something wrong, you should report it, especially if that coworker is a police officer. It is essential to do so, “if the Department is to maintain the trust of the public.” (LAPD) As a police officer, maintaining public trust is a huge factor in their job, but what about maintaining the trust of the Department? If an officer loses the trust within his or her Department, not only do they lose the trust of their fellow officers, they are excommunicated from the Department, and at times, are severely punished by the Department; in even more serious cases they are apart of a cover up scheme. In today’s society, the whistleblower walks a fine line between Patriot and Traitor, but ultimately they are a severe symptom of a very serious problem with our government and its …show more content…
He passed the entrance exam and with two weeks he went to the academy where he then graduated and was sworn in as a police officer for the NYPD. (Hays and Long) Fourteen months passed and Schoolcraft was assigned to Precinct 81 in Belford-Stuyvesant. (Hays and Long) After being there for a couple years he began to bring up issues of understaffing and overtime, claiming that he has “too few officers to do a good job.” (Rayman) Civilians who lived in Schoolcraft’s beat reported that, “[Schoolcraft] was the only officer they knew, because he was the only one interested in conversing with them.” (Rayman) In 2006 and 2008 he was awarded the Meritorious Police Duty Medal for his “dedication to the New York City Police Department and to the City of New York”. (Hays and Long) Schoolcraft was the ideal police officer. After his department started receiving a number of complaints, he decided to record his conversations in order to protect himself. “I worked in a black community, you can think of the word I was accused of using,” stated Schoolcraft in an interview with the Village Voice. Consequently, Schoolcraft decided to record conversations between police officers as well.
Graham) It is expected of officers to turn in other officers for any form of misconduct, in fact according to the Los Angeles Police Department’s employee policies, “an employee’s obligation to report and prevent misconduct begins they moment the employee becomes a member of the Los Angeles Police Department,” and that “all Department employees are responsible for preventing and reporting misconduct.” (LAPD) It seems like a simple enough concept, if a coworker is doing something wrong, you should report it, especially if that coworker is a police officer. It is essential to do so, “if the Department is to maintain the trust of the public.” (LAPD) As a police officer, maintaining public trust is a huge factor in their job, but what about maintaining the trust of the Department? If an officer loses the trust within his or her Department, not only do they lose the trust of their fellow officers, they are excommunicated from the Department, and at times, are severely punished by the Department; in even more serious cases they are apart of a cover up scheme. In today’s society, the whistleblower walks a fine line between Patriot and Traitor, but ultimately they are a severe symptom of a very serious problem with our government and its …show more content…
He passed the entrance exam and with two weeks he went to the academy where he then graduated and was sworn in as a police officer for the NYPD. (Hays and Long) Fourteen months passed and Schoolcraft was assigned to Precinct 81 in Belford-Stuyvesant. (Hays and Long) After being there for a couple years he began to bring up issues of understaffing and overtime, claiming that he has “too few officers to do a good job.” (Rayman) Civilians who lived in Schoolcraft’s beat reported that, “[Schoolcraft] was the only officer they knew, because he was the only one interested in conversing with them.” (Rayman) In 2006 and 2008 he was awarded the Meritorious Police Duty Medal for his “dedication to the New York City Police Department and to the City of New York”. (Hays and Long) Schoolcraft was the ideal police officer. After his department started receiving a number of complaints, he decided to record his conversations in order to protect himself. “I worked in a black community, you can think of the word I was accused of using,” stated Schoolcraft in an interview with the Village Voice. Consequently, Schoolcraft decided to record conversations between police officers as well.