City of Palo Alto
&
Palo Alto Police Policies on Constitutional Rights
&
Palo Alto Police Policies on Constitutional Rights
1. The police Code of Silence exists.
2. Some form of a Code of Silence will develop among officers in virtually any agency.
3. The American criminal justice system and in particular law enforcement, has been negligent by not attempting to resolve the negative impact the code.
4. The Code of Silence breeds, supports and nourishes other forms of unethical actions.
5. Because the code is an essentially natural occurrence, attempts to stop it all together will be futile.
6. The Code of Silence in law enforcement is more dominant and influential than most other vocations or professions.
9. Whistle-blowers are generally not supported by the administration of law enforcement agencies.
11. The Code of Silence among administrators, although better camouflaged and less well known, is more destructive than when non-ranking personnel do the same thing.
15. The Code of Silence typically conceals serious law enforcement misconduct for years before the corruption is revealed.
16. Some officers who participate in the Code of Silence rationalize their behavior by convincing themselves that what they are doing is not actually hurting anyone, while others intentionally replace the facts with a self-serving version because it is emotionally painful to admit the truth.
17. The majority of officers who have been in law enforcement for several years have directly participated in the Code of Silence.
18. The Code of Silence is prompted by excessive use of force incidents more than for any other specific circumstance
21. The “Us versus them” mentality is usually present within the minds of those who participate in the Code of Silence.
26. A culture which acts as fertile ground for the destructive features of the Code of Silence to grow is one that promotes loyalty to people over integrity.
31. Leaders themselves lie at the core of both the cause and solution to corruption and the Code of Silence.
32. The “rotten apple” theory that some administrators propose as the cause of their downfall has frequently been nothing more than a self-serving, superficial façade, intended to draw attention away from their own failures.
36. The intentional ignoring of the Code of Silence by leaders is primarily caused by two problems: a lack of knowledge and self-centeredness.
37. Some leaders do not do more to improve ethical problems such as the Code of Silence because they believe bringing attention to their integrity needs could hurt them personally.
38. Hypocrisy and fear often dominate the culture of a law enforcement agency that has a substantial negative Code of Silence.
40. At its worse, a destructive Code of Silence is both condoned and privately encouraged by supervisors and administrators.
44. Some police agencies have shown they are incapable of policing themselves.
54. Officers should be fired for not reporting officers who commit criminal acts.
COMPLETE LIST:
http://www.aele.org/loscode2000.html
http://www.nealtrautmaninc.com/about-us.php
|