Police unions in the United States

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 Calvin Coolidge 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]}