The Blue Wall of Silence: A Case Study of an Assault by Police

• In Event: Factors Shaping Police Misconduct

Abstract

Purpose. Comparisons are examined between the international Blue Wall of Silence and the author’s PhD research within a British policing context. It presents the theoretical “Triangle of Kakistocracy” framework thus developed as tool for understanding police misconduct.

Design. An autoethnographic examination of the author’s police service heading the Professional Standards Department of a large British police force. The data consists of reflections on the emotional and philosophical impact on the author engendered during his investigation into a police assault as recorded in personal journals.

Findings. The paper offers psychological, ethical and managerial drivers behind police misconduct by deconstructing the impact on officers witnessing an assault on a detainee by a senior officer. Defensiveness and denial by police and the impact on the watchers of being watched is examined through the Blue Wall of Silence and the Lacanian gaze. It concludes that UK officers hold a fundamental ‘honest cop’ belief also prevalent in policing internationally.

Conclusions. This autoethnographic research exposes esoteric police attitudes towards reporting misconduct by colleagues and the harms perpetrated by abuses of their power. It is increasingly valuable in understanding the erosion of police legitimacy.

Author

• Brendan peter Brookshaw, University of Plymouth