In all the discussion about qualified immunity, it seems to me police unions don't get discussed enough.
Police unions appear to be a significant reason why police officers are shielded from accountability. They make police disciplinary records private [1], are why officers receive excessive overtime pay [2], sometimes including kickbacks to their municipality/town, issue cringeworthy statements [3], and pour $ millions into elections [4]. The more I learn about them, the more disappointment I have in American policing.
Why does the American public tolerate police unions?
Perhaps the better question is, who are the politicians that accept their money?
Police unions appear to be a significant reason why police officers are shielded from accountability. They make police disciplinary records private [1], are why officers receive excessive overtime pay [2], sometimes including kickbacks to their municipality/town, issue cringeworthy statements [3], and pour $ millions into elections [4]. The more I learn about them, the more disappointment I have in American policing.
Why does the American public tolerate police unions? Perhaps the better question is, who are the politicians that accept their money?
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/nyregion/nypd-discipline-...
[2] https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Police-overtime-spen...
[3] https://www.nycpba.org/miscellaneous/anti-cop-city-council/
[4] https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/06/police-unions-spend...