How U.S. Police Unions Became a Dominant Political Force

The political influence of U.S. police unions has grown significantly over decades, securing material benefits for officers while often shielding them from accountability, according to historian Stuart Schrader’s new book *Blue Power: The Origins of Police Militancy and the Making of Modern Law Enforcement*. The work traces how police organizations evolved into a powerful political force, one that has increasingly aligned with right-wing movements, culminating in its full-throated support for former President Donald Trump.

Critics of policing, even amid evidence that the 2020 George Floyd protests boosted Democratic voter turnout, have faced growing backlash as potential electoral liabilities. In a recent interview, Schrader discussed how police unions gained such outsized influence in American politics and why that power may be less stable than it appears.

Schrader began researching police unions while studying the relationship between U.S. empire and policing in his previous book, *Badges Without Borders* (2019). He found that while the political role of police has long been acknowledged, it has rarely been the central focus of academic or public discussion. "Everybody knows they’re there, but nobody is too focused on them," he said. "I was frustrated that there was not already a book-length history of the police union movement."

His research intensified during the 2014–15 Black Lives Matter protests, particularly after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio faced strong opposition from the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association following the killings of two officers in Brooklyn. Schrader noted that while organizations like the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) had long sought to make policing more politically visible, their efforts gained momentum during the late 1960s—a period marked by civil rights struggles and rising crime rates.

Quinn Tamm, then director of the IACP, urged police chiefs to adopt a more unified political voice in Washington. Many chiefs resisted, fearing federal oversight could lead to scrutiny over racial discrimination and brutality. Yet the union movement eventually surpassed the IACP in influence. Police chiefs, once powerful figures under the Obama administration, have since seen their stature diminish under both Trump and Biden, Schrader observed.

The relationship between police leadership and rank-and-file officers has been fraught with tension. Reform efforts in the mid-20th century, aimed at professionalizing policing through better training and technology, were often imposed from above—sparking resistance from officers who viewed reforms as attacks on their autonomy. "The reform program was led from the top down," Schrader said. "It was imposed on police officers, who did not appreciate being told that they were corrupt, inept, ineffective, or racist."

Unions emerged partly in response to these reforms, adopting language of resistance while also positioning themselves as advocates for professionalization and better pay. "Police union militants took the language and, in some cases, the political repertoires of protest from some of the movements active at the time," Schrader noted, "even when in their day-to-day work they were on the other side of the barricade."

This dual strategy—balancing internal demands for recognition with outward political mobilization—helped unions consolidate power. By the time of the Floyd protests, police organizations had become a formidable, often reactionary force in American politics, resistant to oversight while demanding public and political support. Despite occasional tensions between leadership and rank-and-file, their influence remains a defining feature of contemporary law enforcement culture.