Behind the Blue Wall of Silence

Abstract

Much has been reported in the media and depicted in the popular culture that purports to describe the so-called ‘‘Blue Wall of Silence,’’ a phenomenon that suggests that the police engage in a pervasive pattern of deception and withholding of the truth in ritual cover-up for their brethren. This writing suggests that there exists within the subculture of policing an idiosyncratic construct of masculinity that privileges tacit conspiracies of silence. This cult of masculinity validates normative heterosexuality, hierarchical regimentation, homosocial bonding, homophobia, and paternalistic misogyny. Silences are maintained, supported, and endorsed in a reflexive and unspoken means of obstructing evaluation of officer conduct by interlopers who (the subculture suggests) have little appreciation for or understanding of the danger, adversity, and peril that consume the working lives of the police. The essay attempts to articulate the underlying aspects of this idiosyncratic subculture that countenance bonding and subsequent silences.