Police unions in the United States include a large number and patchwork variety of organizations. Of those unions which conduct labor negotiations on behalf of its police members, 80% are independent and have no affiliation to any larger organized labor groups. There were a reported 800,000 sworn officers in the United States as of 2017, and an estimated 75–80% of them belonged to a union.[1]
Many of the independent unions serve police in local municipalities. The self-described "largest municipal police union in the world" is the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York that represents 24,000 members of the NYPD.[2][3] There is no single dominant national association. Four associations have significant membership drawn from across the country. The Fraternal Order of Police has a reported 330,000 members, although the FOP encompasses both union lodges and fraternal lodges, and while active as an advocacy group is not itself officially a union. The largest national union per se is the International Union of Police Associations, with about 20,000 members, which is among that 20% of police unions with affiliations to organized labor. The IUPA chartered with the AFL–CIO in 1979. Likewise the International Brotherhood of Police Officers has a national scope, and is a member organization of the National Association of Government Employees, which is itself affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.[4]
The history of police labor organization in the U.S., under the hand of Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor, began in June 1919. Within four months an ill-advised strike by the freshly chartered Boston Police Department resulted in four days of public disorder, nine deaths, and widespread property damage. Woodrow Wilson declared that the strike was a "crime against civilization", and Herbert Hoover telegrammed Gompers, "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time."[5] For decades afterward, police and other public employees were prevented from organizing. Only in the 1960s did most state laws change to allow public-sector employees the right to collective bargaining.[6]
In recent times police unions have been characterized as impediments to organizational reform, and as hindrances in attempts to discipline police officers involved in misconduct.[7] Unions frequently oppose criminal justice reform proposals, as well as have promoted rioting and strikes when governments introduce organizational reforms.[8][7][9][10]
^Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Who We Are". NYCPBA. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
^Hoover, Larry T.; DeLord, Ronald G. (23 October 2006). Encyclopedia of Police Science. Taylor & Francis. p. 1315. ISBN 9781135879082. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
^"About Us". International Brotherhood of Police Officers. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
^Calvin, Coolidge (1 January 1919). Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches and Messages, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
^Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Finnegan, William. "How Police Unions Fight Reform". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
^Scheiber, Noam; Stockman, Farah; Goodman, J. David (2020-06-06). "How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
^Surowiecki, James. "Why Are Police Unions Blocking Reform?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
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