Blue wall of silence

"Blue code" redirects here. For Code Blue emergencies, see Hospital emergency codes. For the episode of Person of Interest, see Blue Code (Person of Interest).

The blue wall of silence,[1] also blue code[2] and blue shield,[3] are terms used to denote an informal code of silence among police officers in the United States not to report on a colleague's errors, misconduct, or crimes, especially as related to police brutality in the United States.[4] If questioned about an incident of alleged misconduct involving another officer (e.g., during the course of an official inquiry), while following the code, the officer being questioned would perjure themselves by feigning ignorance of another officer's wrongdoing.

  1. ^ Chin, Gabriel; Wells, Scott (1998). "The "Blue Wall of Silence" and "the Blue Curtain of Secrecy" as Evidence of Bias and Motive to Lie: A New Approach to Police Perjury". University of Pittsburgh Law Review. 59: 233. SSRN 1810012.
  2. ^ Ann Mullen (November 8, 2000). "Breaking the blue code". Metro Times. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  3. ^ Thurman, Quint; Giacomazzi, Andrew (2010). Controversies in Policing. Elsevier. p. 62. ISBN 9781437755183.
  4. ^ Dubey, Narain (June 3, 2019). "Breaking the Blue Wall of Silence: Changing the Social Narrative About Policing in America". New York Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.