Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

November 2, 2011

A little more than a decade ago, the Legal Officers Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police conducted a nation-wide ethics survey of police officers.

Nearly eighty percent of respondents said that a ?`Code of Silence exists and is fairly common throughout the nation.?? Nearly half admitted that they had witnessed, and concealed, police misconduct.  The most frequently listed consequences for reporting misconduct were ostracism, retaliatory discipline or termination, and official indifference.

That survey confirmed, beyond serious dispute, that the culture of law enforcement is largely defined by an unofficial but binding doctrine of ?professional courtesy.? A conspicuous example of this attitude could be seen in a recent protest outside the New York State Supreme Court, the scene of a trial involving 16 police officers accused of a series of offenses ranging from ticket-fixing to grand larceny and assault. The protest was organized by the local police union, whose president, Patrick J. Lynch, insisted that the corrupt cops had simply done something ?accepted at all ranks for decades.?

Had someone else said the same thing, the police union chief would have condemned him for trafficking in anti-police stereotypes. But those stereotypes obviously come from somewhere.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.