Blue curtain william westly

blue wail of silence A figurative protective barrier erect ed by the police in which officers protect one another from outsiders, often even refusing to aid police superiors or other law enforcement officials in investigating wrongdoing of other officers, blue curtain A concept developed by William Westley that cl aims police officers only trust other police officers and do not aid in the investigation of wrongdoing by other officers. \ i r Log onto wwm.cengagebrain.com ' ijf ,0 P rac,ice your vocabulary with » flash cards and more.POLICE CULTURE:

· honor

· loyalty

· individuality

often in police officer conversations. Backup involves assisting other officers in emergency situations and coming to their aid when they are challenged, criticized, or even charged widi wrongdoing. Brown explains the importance of backup by pointing out diat the violence that police must deal widi and die strong bonding that occurs among police officers "places die highest value upon the obligation to back up and support a fellow officer." (Brown 82)

The ideal officer according to the police subculture, takes risks (honor), is first on die scene to aid a fellow police officer (loyalty), and is able to handle any situation by doing it her or his own way (individuality).

DANGER

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The idea of danger permeates the police subculture. George L. Kirkliam, a college professor who became a police officer to better understand his police students, discusses the police mistrust of civilians and police reliance upon their own peer group support to survive on the streets: "As someone who had always regarded policemen as a 'paranoid lot,' I discovered in the daily round of violence which became part of my life that chronic suspiciousness is somediing that a good cop cultivates in the interest of going home to his family each evening. (Kirkliam 81) (See Table 6.1.)

Ttm, Blue- Way m Bmum^

Studies of die police culture indicate that police officers protect one anodier from outsiders, often even refusing to aid police superiors or other law enforcement officials in investigating wrongdoing by odier officers. Many believe diat this part of the police culture or die police subculture produces a protective barrier known as die blue wall of . Writing about the police subculture and the blue wall of silence, Bittner says, "Policing is a dangerous occupation and the availability of unquestioned support and loyalty is not something officers could readily do without." (Bittner 63)

Bobert Sheehan and Gary W. Cordner write about how this aspect of the police subculture can destroy the reputation and integrity of a police department, "The influence of dominant police subcultural role expectations can have a devastating effect on a police department. Actually, the existence of such unofficially established, negative, institutionalized role expectations is the primary reason that so many police departments are held in such low esteem by the public." (Sheehan and Cordner 286)

An example of the police subcultural blue wall of silence is William Westleys classic study of the Gary, Indiana, police department, in which he found a police culture that had its own customs, law, and morality. Westley says these values produce the blue curtail —a

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The Personal Side of Policing

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The Personal Side of Policing

Jt±y- >L LV r ...iff — k OTHI FROM OUTSIDTABLE 6.1 Traits of the Police Culture/Subculture

· Clannishness

· Isolation from the public

· Secrecy

· Honor

· Loyalty

· Individuality

T i imiT

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The Personal Side of Policing

Police Culture, Personality, and Police Stress

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The Police Personality The police culture or subculture leads to what scholars call die lolice pers lalrh, or traits common to most police officers. Scholars have reported that this personal ity is thought to include such traits as authoritarianism, suspicion, hostility, insecurity, conservatism, and cynicism. (Skolnick)(See Table 6.2.)police personality

'3:3 common to most police cheers. Scholars have reported :nat this personality is thought to :-clude such traits as authoritarianism, suspicion, hostility, insecurity,

conservatism, and cynicism.

Log onto www.cengagebrain.com ^ to practice your vocabulary with ' in^ flash cards and more.

situation in which police officers only trust other police officers and do not aid in the investigation of wrongdoing by other officers. Westley calls the blue curtain a barrier that

isolates police officers

from the rest of society.

(Westley)

TABLE

Traits of the Police Personality

· Authoritarianism

· Suspicion

· Hostility

· Insecurity

· Conservatism

· Cynicism

Regarding the requirements of the police profession and the police personality, Michael Pittaro wrote,

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The Personal Side of Policing

What Is the Police Personality?

Jerome Skolnick coined the term "working personality of police officers." Skolnick stated that the police officer's working personality is shaped by constant exposure to danger and the need to use force and authority to reduce and control threatening situations. (Skolnick) Skolnick wrote,

Are They Born Like That, or Is It the Job?

Two opposing viewpoints exist on the development of the police personality. One says that police departments recruit people who by nature possess those traits that we see in the police personality. The second point of view holds diat officers develop those traits through their socialization and experiences in the police department.

Police cadets learn how to use patrol car computers in a classroom at the police academy in Los Angeles, California.

White males were passed over on entrance and promotion examinations by minorities, some ot whom had received lower test scores.

affirmative action

An active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for minorities. This includes ensuring equal opportunity as well as redressing past discrimination.

quota

Numbers put into place as part of goals and objectives in affirmative action plans.

reverse discrimination

The label often attached to the preferential treatment received by minority groups.

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its employees have a high school diploma and pass a standard intelligence test before being hired. (Griggs v. Duke Power Company) The court ruled that these requirements were discriminatory unless they could be shown to measure the attributes needed to perforin a specific job. The decision in Griggs v. Duke Power Company established the concept that job requirements must be job related—they must be necessary for the performance of the job a person is applying for.

How did all these regulations apply to police departments? Candidates who formerly were denied acceptance into police departments because they could not meet certain standards (height and weight) or could not pass certain tests (strength) began to argue that these standards were not job related—diat is, the standards did not measure skills and qualifications needed to perform police work.

The requirement that officers not be less than a certain height (height requirement) was probably the strongest example of discrimination against women candidates. With very few exceptions, police departments lost court cases involving the height requirement including Mieth v. Dothard (1976) and Vanguard Justice Society v. Hughes (1979). (Gaines, Worrall, Southerland and Angell 367)

Previous forms of physical ability testing were also challenged and found discriminatory by the courts. Newer tests, known as physical agility tests, were developed to reduce adverse impact. These newer physical agility tests required much less physical strength than the former tests and relied more on physical fitness.

The most controversial mediod of ending job discrimina- tion is die concept of . In 1965, in Executive Order 11246, President Lyndon B. Johnson required all federal contractors and subcontractors to develop affirmative action programs. Subsequent orders have amended and expanded the original executive order. In essence, die concept of affirmative action means that employers must take active steps to ensure equal employ- ment opportunity and to redress past discrimination. It is an "active effort" to improve the employment or educa- tional opportunities of members of minority groups. This differs from equal opportunity, which ensures that no discrimination takes place and that everyone has the same opportunity to obtain a job or promotion.

The major concept behind affirmative action, and possibly die most disturbing concept to many, is the establishment of . To implement affirmative

action plans, departments incorporate goals and objectives involving numbers and timetables to correct past underrepresentation. These plans do not necessarily involve rigid quotas, just hiring and promotion goals to strive for. Some feel that affirmative action plans and quotas lead to reverse disciiininalioii.

lOs Discuss the Issue of White Male Backlash

As more police jobs and promotions began to go to minorities, fewer white males received diese jobs and promotions. White males were passed over on entrance and promotion examina^ tions by minorities, some of whom had received lower test scores. This resulted in turmoil and angry white males voicing anger and resentment, and counter lawsuits followed. Though the EEOC prohibits all discrimination and consequently does not use the theory of "reverse discrimination," majority individuals often label the preferential treatment received by minority groups as reverse discrimination. (Swanson, Territo, and Taylor 293) They argue that

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