In my opinion, the term “cop code” basically means that police officers do their jobs by the code of looking out for themselves rather then the community. There are many police officers that live by this code. This code also involves lying for each other to keep themselves out of trouble. The formal law enforcement code is when the police officers are looking out for the public and civil rights of the community. When these two codes collide then there can be a lot of problems.
I know that police officers take an oath to serve the public by certain standards. However, some officers tend to go with the “cop code” more then the formal law enforcement code. This can have many negative aspects. This so called “cop code” is a main thing that causes the public to disrespect cops and other officials. If the public feels like police officers feel like that the officers that are here to protect and serve are not doing their job properly this is not going to make the public feel very safe.
I honestly believe that the different codes do cause different perceptions with the public. The “cop code” leads the public to perceive that all police officers are corrupt, dirty or just bad. This is the wrong perception to have in some cases. Not all police officers are bad or corrupt. The formal law enforcement code allows people to perceive the police officers as they should be perceived and that is public servants that are there to serve and protect the public and to do their job the proper way as well as the justifiable way.