Walking With the Devil

Michael W. Quinn’s new book, Walking With the Devil: The Police Code of Silence, is a must-read for every ethical person involved with the legal system. Quinn writes in vivid street-cop language, compelling police recuits’―and our―attention with gritty adrenaline-laced descriptions of the life-and-death, “slippery with blood and sweat” survival-mode situations in which gut instincts―“amygdala hijackings”―propel even the most ethical cops into difficult battles with the Code of Silence, the implicit rule that a cop never ‘snitches’ on another cop. When he has our attention, he leads us through the “terrible internal struggles” of honesty and ethics. Quinn is bluntly honest about “cop culture” and institutional pressures toward corruption, including “creative report writing” and “testilying.” Quinn guides his readers into a gut-level understanding of real-life ethics. He addresses the criminally-serious problems detailed in his book, describing outstanding successes of two police units he supervised, “that refused to use the Code,” and debunks the ‘top ten’ “Myths of Policing.” The Police Code of Silence is a profoundly power- ful text book. When studied with the dedicated seriousness of a police recruit at the Academy, Michael Quinn’s teaching builds and strengthens ethics beyond abstract intellectual knowledge, into the very fibers of one’s being. Even in those of us who believe ourselves to deeply ethical, Quinn’s book can awaken and nurture a deeper understanding of ethics as a vital part of life in every moment.