The Quagmire that is an Unwillingness to Report: Situating the Code of Silence Within the Chinese Police Context

Abstract

This study examines the individual, organizational, and ecological factors influencing police officers’ adherence to the code of silence, while accounting for their evaluation of the seriousness of each identified behavior. This study collected 353 responses from a sample of police officers receiving in-service training at a national police university in China. Results show salient influences for several individual and ecological factors contributing to the extent of the code of silence and those influences varied based on the type of behavior. In addition, this study lends further support to an emerging body of research suggesting Chinese police display a strong code of silence, although the existence and perpetuation of that code must take into consideration unique cultural practices within China.