http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-chicago-cop-fatal-dui-crash-20171121-story.html

The existence of a code of silence within the Chicago Police Department was finally coming to the forefront in November 2012 when former homicide detective Joseph Frugoli was sent to prison for an off-duty drunken driving crash that killed two young men. Four days before Frugoli’s sentencing, a federal jury found that a code of silence allowing problem cops to act with impunity contributed to the high-profile, videotaped beating of a female bartender by off-duty Officer Anthony Abbate.

In the five years since, the so-called “blue wall of silence” has been confirmed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who in a 2015 speech condemned "the tendency to ignore, deny or in some cases cover up the bad actions of ...

Now, the code of silence is set to take center stage in Frugoli’s own case as a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the families of the two men he killed — Andrew Cazares and Fausto Manzera — goes to trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

The trial, which begins with jury selection Monday before U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall, will focus on allegations that the Police Department's code of silence led Frugoli to believe that he could "drink and drive with impunity" because fellow officers had protected him in the past.


there's more at the URL above.
Its an interesting position taken for prosecution.

It's an unfortunately common occurrence, across all disciplines and groups. Whenever any group depends on internal cohesion and cooperation for success, rather than on internal competition, they tend to hide the failures of their "teammates."

Happens in politics within parties, in the military, among many police organizations, and even in purely social stratus groupings, such as rich versus poor, worker versus owner groups.

It is imperative for the sake of each of those groups, that this internal bias ALWAYS be opposed, but it's unfortunately UNcommon for individuals to get the in depth philosophical and moral training required to make them realize that they are DESTROYING their group, by covering up their group's failings.

Code of Silence . . . that would be a good name for a Chuck Norris movie.

Oh, wait. That movie already exists.

Yes, that movie pertains to the topic of this thread.

and it is an interesting phenomenon that some people will think all cops are noble and honorable because of the reality that some indeed are

but they do not feel the same about politicians

when in truth, absolute power can corrupt absolutely and politicians and police have BOTH been given incredible power over the lives of others ....

I believe most do not give in, but I believe there are many who do

There are a lot of cases where the "code of silence" is actually pragmatic, or strategic. When a group feels threatened especially, admitting to defects in their membership can lessen the ability of the group to influence others as they wish to.

That's the most common reason I've seen for WHY otherwise moral people decide to cover up misdeeds of friends.

I disagree with it for the same reason I gave before, but it needs to be recognized and dealt with directly. It's basically an erroneous idea that they are protecting the reputation of the GOOD members of the group, by hiding or denying the facts about the bad members.

Always a mistake.