{{Short description|Intentional withholding of information}} {{other uses}} {{distinguish|Conspiracy of silence (expression)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Refimprove|date=December 2014}} A '''code of silence''' is a condition in effect when a person opts to withhold what is believed to be vital or important information voluntarily or involuntarily.
The code of silence is usually followed because of threat of force or danger to oneself, or being branded as a traitor or an outcast within the unit or organization, as the experience of police whistleblower Frank Serpico illustrates. Police are known to have a well-developed blue wall of silence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chin |first=Gabriel |last2=Wells |first2=Jack |date=January 14, 1998 |title=The 'Blue Wall of Silence' as Evidence of Bias and Motive to Lie: A New Approach to Police Perjury |url=https://ssrn.com/abstract=1810012 |journal=University of Pittsburgh Law Review |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=233-299 |ssrn=1810012 |via=Elsevier}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mullen |first=Ann |date=November 8, 2000 |title=Breaking the blue code |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/news/breaking-the-blue-code-2169881/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250524090527/https://www.metrotimes.com/news/breaking-the-blue-code-2169881 |archive-date=May 24, 2025 |access-date=February 12, 2026 |website=Detroit Metro Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thurman |first=Quint |title=Controversies in Policing |last2=Giacomazzi |first2=Andrew |publisher=Elsevier |year=2010 |isbn=9781437755183 |pages=62 |language=en-US}}</ref>
A more well-known example of the code of silence is the ''omertà'', the Sicilian Mafia code of silence.
== See also == * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution * Stop Snitchin' * ''Spotlight'', a 2015 film that explores a communal code of silence that reigned during the Boston sex abuse scandal * Prisoner's dilemma (Logic for using a code of silence)
== References == {{refbegin}} * {{cite news |last1=Maxwell |first1=Bill |title=Code of silence corrodes morality, puts blacks at risk |url=http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/code-of-silence-corrodes-morality-puts-blacks-at-risk/1110709 |access-date=4 February 2025 |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=25 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727011726/http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/code-of-silence-corrodes-morality-puts-blacks-at-risk/1110709 |archive-date=27 July 2010 |language=en-US}} * {{cite news |title=Judgment day for Chicago's police code of silence |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-chicago-police-laquan-mcdonald-emanuel-edit-20160817-story.html |access-date=4 February 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329155051/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-chicago-police-laquan-mcdonald-emanuel-edit-20160817-story.html |archive-date=29 March 2018 |language=en}} {{refend}} {{reflist}}
Category:Group processes Category:Silence
{{Law-enforcement-stub}}