Police union contracts: An analysis of large cities

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

Several high profiling incidents of police use of deadly force has sparked a national conversation around police violence, particularly its causes and what to do about it. Absent from many of these discussions is the potential role police union contracts play in impeding effective investigations of police misconduct and providing meaningful discipline. This poster presents general findings from an analysis of police union contracts from 100 of the largest cities in the U.S. It attempts to distill from these contracts general provisions granted to police when they are accused of misconduct, such as how long the officer has to obtain legal counsel, who is designated to investigate the misconduct, whether or not disciplinary records can be expunged, and whether or not discipline can be made public. Particular attention is paid to provisions which may hinder police accountability and provide unreasonable protections to officers accused of misconduct.

Authors

• Christopher Harris, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Matthew Sweeney, University of Massachusetts Lowell