Resources

For all the public controversy over police unions, there is relatively little legal scholarship on them. Neither the legal nor the social science literature on policing and police reform has explored the opportunities and constraints that labor law offers in thinking about organizational change. The scholarly deficit has substantial public policy consequences, as groups ranging from Black Lives Matter to the U.S. Department of Justice are proposing legal changes that will require the cooperation of police labor organizations to implement. This Article fills that gap.

The Campaign Zero team reviewed police union contracts of 81 of America’s 100 largest cities and police bill of rights in all 15 states with such legislation to identify the ways in which these policies make it more difficult to hold police accountable. This resource includes a report and an interactive chart to learn more about contract stipulations in each state.

In recent years, videos capturing the fatal shootings of unarmed men of color by police officers have swept media outlets and public discourse. Facilitated by cellphone video and social media and spurred by a new generation of Black Lives Matter activists, public awareness of excessive force incidents has gained new momentum and shined a light on broader concerns about racial disparities within our criminal justice system. This report highlights states’ efforts to provide access to officer disciplinary records (through “sunshine legislation”) and the obstacles that police unions pose when trying to pass and enforce these laws.

If a police officer in your community has a history of misconduct, can you find out about it? It depends where you live. WNYC spoke to attorneys and experts in all 50 states and reviewed relevant statutes and court cases to get a national picture of a local issue. We found that a police officer’s disciplinary history is effectively confidential in almost half of US states.

Reuters examined police union contracts across the country and found a pattern of protections afforded officers: Many contracts erase disciplinary records or allow police to forfeit sick leave for suspensions. Meantime, residents face hurdles in pursuing complaints.