Is the blue wall of silence a fallacy in cases of police sexual misconduct?
| Author | Fay Sweeting,Terri Cole,Peter Hills |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557221085504 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
Is the blue wall of silence a fallacy
in cases of police sexual misconduct?
Fay Sweeting
Bournemouth University, UK
Terri Cole
Bournemouth University, UK
Peter Hills
Bournemouth University, UK
Abstract
Police sexual misconduct encompasses a range of behaviours: from sexually inappropriate language directed towards col-
leagues or members of the public to engaging in sexual relationships with vulnerable members of the public. All types of
police misconduct are thought to be under-reported, in part because of the ‘blue wall of silence’where police officers fail
to report colleagues’wrongdoing for reasons of loyalty and a fear of retribution. A sample of 382 English police officers
were invited to assess eight fictional police sexual misconduct scenarios to ascertain whether the scenario was a breach
of the Code of Ethics, the expected level of discipline and if they would report the officer. Reporting likelihood was
increased when officers perceived the scenario to be a breach of the Code of Ethics and worthy of a higher level of dis-
cipline. Female officers were more likely to report sexual misconduct than male officers, and scenarios involving direct
colleagues were less likely to be reported. Non-reporting was greatest for sexual harassment between colleagues and the
seriousness of this behaviour was minimised as justification for non-reporting. Use of confidential reporting was minimal
with direct reporting to a line manager to be the preferred option.
Keywords
Police corruption, abuse of position, sexual misconduct, police integrity, whistleblowing
Submitted 1 Oct 2021, Revise received 17 Dec 2021, accepted 13 Jan 2022
Introduction
In 2018, a misconduct hearing within the small, and largely
rural, Dorset Police force heard that Sgt Stephen Hughes
had made sexually inappropriate and offensive remarks to
female police constables. Hughes admitted telling one
female officer that he wished he could breastfeed from
her, and another to make him tea because ‘you’ve got the
tits’. A further 31 allegations against Hughes involving
four other female officers were dismissed by the miscon-
duct panel. Hughes was found guilty of misconduct and
issued with a final written warning (Dorset Police Public
Misconduct Hearing—Sgt Stephen Hughes, 2018). The
Chief Constable of Dorset thanked the officers who had
spoken up against Hughes for their courage in reporting
him.
Corresponding author:
Fay Sweeting, Department of Psychology, Poole House, Talbot Campus,
Bournemouth University, Bournemouth BH12 5BB, UK.
Email: fsweeting@bournemouth.ac.uk
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2022, Vol. 24(3) 285–297
© The Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/14613557221085504
journals.sagepub.com/home/psm
To continue reading
Request your trial