Future of the Blue Wall
The Chauvin trial represented a very public and unprecedented scaling of the blue wall. The image of so many officers testifying in open court against one of their own provides hope that courageous officers who speak the truth about other officers’ wrongdoing will be heard and supported instead of ostracized, removed from the force, or worse. The blue code of silence that has vexed the pursuit of safe, effective, and constitutional policing has finally shown signs of cracking—but more still needs to be done.
1. We Must Change the Fraternal Police Culture That Views the Public as the Enemy
The public is demanding greater transparency and accountability, but while rogue officers bear ultimate responsibility for their actions and should be held accountable, we must recognize that they do not exist in a vacuum. A culture that primarily concerns itself with assigning blame misses the mark, but so does one that concerns itself with dodging responsibility and covering up wrongdoing. Police departments must be active participants in this effort, with officers recognizing that unlawful police behavior makes everyone less safe. Rogue officers are part of a system, and that system is ripe for change.
2. We Must Improve the Vetting of Officers During Recruitment
As mentioned above, it is imperative that police departments be active participants in dismantling the blue wall; to that extent, they should share in the reform philosophy and better represent the community they are in charge of policing. Overwhelmingly, it appears that officers are reform minded. According to one survey, about 72 percent of officers feel that poorly performing officers are not held accountable (Rich Morin et al., Behind the Badge, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (Jan. 11, 2017)). Roughly two-thirds favor the use of body cameras (id.). Fully 84 percent say officers should be required to intervene when they believe another officer is about to use unnecessary force (id.). And a majority (65 percent) of officers say that today in policing, it is very useful for departments to require officers to show respect, concern, and fairness when dealing with the public (id.).
Of course, public perception of law enforcement certainly limits interest in the profession and is a significant barrier to the effective recruitment of qualified candidates (Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, The State of Recruitment: A Crisis for Law Enforcement (2019)). A recent example is the January 7, 2023, beating of Tyre Nichols at the hands of young Memphis police officers, which was caught on tape that showed no experienced supervisors on the scene. Memphis’s police chief acknowledged that a chronic shortage of officers (especially supervisors), an increasing number of police officers quitting, and a struggle to bring in qualified recruits all have plagued the department (Tyre Nichols Case Highlights U.S. Police Recruiting and Retention Crisis, AP (Feb. 8, 2023); see also Ryan Young & Devon M. Sayers, Why Police Forces Are Struggling to Recruit and Keep Officers, CNN (Feb. 3, 2022)). According to a 2017 survey, more than eight in ten officers (86 percent) say their work is harder today as a result of these high-profile incidents (Morin, supra). As community tensions are rising, so are the number of fatal attacks on officers (id.). All these factors coalesce and lead to difficulties in the recruitment of qualified candidates and the retention of experienced officers; as a result, a growing desperation to fill hundreds of slots in recent years is driving police departments to increase incentives and lower standards (Jason Johnson, “Defund the Police” Led to Lower Standards, Wall St. J. (Feb. 22, 2023)). Some police departments are taking the opportunity to work harder to attract candidates who better reflect the community they serve, with a concentrated effort on hiring more women, more people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community (James Brown Jr. et al., “It’s Changing”: As Officers Quit in Droves, Departments See an Opportunity for Police Reform, USA Today (Dec. 21, 2022)).
3. We Must Change the Culture of Officers’ Intervention and the Protection of Whistleblowers
For far too long, police departments have silenced internal whistleblowers to cover up misconduct. There has been little to no protection for officers who transgressed the blue wall and spoke up against fellow officers—to the contrary, officers have been suspended, fired, and, in at least one reported case, forcibly admitted to a psychiatric facility (Gina Barton et al., Behind the Blue Wall of Silence, USA Today (May 9, 2022)). Three examples: An internal affairs investigator in Colorado leaked video of an officer punching a handcuffed man in a wheelchair in the head; a Texas police officer reported a sergeant who planted drugs in his ex-wife’s car; and in Louisiana, a state trooper refused to participate in what he says was a cover-up in the case of Ronald Greene, who died in state custody after being beaten and stunned with a Taser (id.). After speaking out, all of them were forced out of their departments and branded traitors by fellow officers (id.). Almost universally, police officers who turn whistleblowers still have to confront systems that are hostile to the very allegations they are making.
Certain states and municipalities have been leading the charge for reform. In New Orleans, a mandatory police training program teaches officers to intervene when they see fellow officers on the verge of unethical behavior, no matter the circumstances (Campbell Robertson, New Orleans Program Teaches Officers to Police One Another, N.Y. Times (Aug. 28, 2016); see also Martin Kaste, New Orleans Police Program Aims to Stop Police Misconduct, Reduce Burnout, NPR (June 20, 2020)). After the beating of Rodney King in 1991 by Los Angeles police officers, California law enforcement officials proposed training strategies to encourage the police to practice “active bystandership”—intervening to prevent a bad thing from happening despite the impulse to look away (id.; see also Daniel Goleman, Scientist at Work: Ervin Staub, Studying the Pivotal Role of Bystanders, N.Y. Times (June 22, 1993)). Recent legislative changes in Maryland have also given police officers whistleblower protections (Michael Levenson & Bryan Pietsch, Maryland Passes Sweeping Reform Legislation, N.Y. Times (Apr. 10, 2021)). In Illinois, the state attorney general announced a sweeping investigation into the Joliet Police Department’s retaliation against a whistleblower who leaked a video showing police misconduct and was himself arrested on official misconduct charges (Daphne Duret, Illinois Attorney General Will Investigate Department That Retaliated Against Police Whistleblower, USA Today (Sept. 8, 2021)). Programs and protections like these shift the mindset of officers and allow them to recognize their responsibility for their fellow officers’ actions if they remain passive bystanders. Successful initiatives are able to do this in a way that does not undermine officers’ loyalty to each other but rather changes what loyalty means: stopping excess violence instead of hiding it behind a code of silence (Goleman, supra). Empowering everyone in law enforcement to speak up when encountering unlawful behavior should be the cornerstone of community safety initiatives.