Self-control and the police code of silence: Examining the unwillingness to report fellow officers' misbehavior among a multi-agency sample of police recruits

Research has established that low self-control is significantly related to harmful police behavior, but no study, of which we are aware, has investigated the relationship between self-control and adherence to the police code of silence. Structural equation modeling is used to test the theoretical causal sequence linking self-control to the unwillingness to report fellow officers' misbehavior among a multi-agency sample of 1072 police recruits, while controlling for other factors associated with misconduct. Though our data specify some support for the general theory of crime, the results suggest that attempting to explain adherence to the code of silence is a complex and multifaceted endeavor. Impulsivity/temper was the only self-control variable, of three tested, to demonstrate a significant effect. Moreover, several other variables, including job satisfaction and cynicism, also significantly predicted the outcome of interest. Self-control was found to be a multidimensional construct, and only the impulsivity/temper element was related to police recruits' unwillingness to report fellow officers' misconduct. Notably, though, other factors were also significant in predicting code adherence. This study offers insight into this important phenomenon and our findings yield important policy implications for police administrators. •Self-control was found to be a multidimensional construct.•Only impulsivity/temper, of three self-control variables tested, was related to code adherence.•Code adherence was also partially explained by organizational factors, such as job satisfaction and cynicism.