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Police Union

The Effort To Recall Progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin

December 22, 2021 Marjorie Cohn and Michael Steven Smith, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Chesa Boudin has been serving San Franciscans as their district attorney for nearly two years. He is a leading progressive in what has been called the progressive prosecutors’ movement. Other progressive district attorneys in that small cohort are George Gascon in Los Angeles and Larry Krasner in Philadelphia. In Berger v. United States https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/295/78/, the Supreme Court said that the duty of a prosecutor “in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done.” Yet all too many prosecutors are more concerned with winning cases than with doing justice, which includes the protection of constitutional rights. Boudin campaigned by proposing solutions to the disaster of mass incarceration, one of the leading civil rights issues of our time.

AFL-CIO Leader Richard Trumka Defends Police Unions

June 29, 2020 By Hamilton Nolan, In These Times. , , ,
Union locals and progressive factions within larger unions have taken up the call. The King County Labor Council expelled the Seattle police union last week, and even SEIU leader Mary Kay Henry, the head of the most powerful union outside of the AFL-CIO, said that disaffiliation “must be considered” if police unions don’t reform. Last Friday, the proposal from the Writers Guild received its first serious and direct discussion at a meeting of the AFL-CIO’s executive council, the elected body that governs the group. Mark Dimondstein, the head of the American Postal Workers Union, raised the issue, saying that the AFL-CIO would eventually have no choice but to deal with the issue head-on. Trumka, who was leading the meeting, pushed back claiming many police officers today are “community-friendly.” He also disagreed with Dimondstein’s characterization of labor’s differences with police as “irreconcilable.” 

No More Cop Unions

May 30, 2020 Kim Kelly, The New Republic. , , ,
When Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department killed 46-year-old George Floyd in cold blood last week, he showed the world exactly what kind of man he is. Chauvin has been cited multiple times for using excessive force on the job; he has been involved in at least two other police shootings, including that of Ira Latrell Toles, who is Black, in 2008. Chauvin has repeatedly abused his power, privilege, and authority to menace and terrorize—and he’s now been shown killing a human being on camera. Even so, he remains free to cower in his house and order delivery while demonstrators protest outside. And thanks to the tangled auspices of union affiliation, he’s also someone who technically counts as my “union brother.”

Hackers Post Private Files Of America’s Biggest Police Union

January 30, 2016 Jon Swaine and George Joseph, www.theguardian.com ,
By Jon Swaine and George Joseph for The Guardian - Private files belonging to America’s biggest police union, including the names and addresses of officers, forum posts critical of Barack Obama, and controversial contracts made with city authorities, were posted online on Thursday after a hacker breached its website. The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which says it represents about 330,000 law enforcement officers across the US, said the FBI was investigating after 2.5GB of data taken from its servers was dumped online and swiftly shared on social media. The union’s national site, fop.net, remained offline on Thursday evening.

Brooklyn, Police Union Turns Back On Cop Who Killed Innocent Man

January 29, 2016 Max Rivlin-Nadler, www.gothamist.com , , ,
By Max Rivlin-Nadler for Gothamist - When NYPD Officer Peter Liang entered court this week to stand trial for killing 28-year-old Akai Gurley in November 2014, there was a noticeable absence in Brooklyn Supreme Court. The usual throng of supporters from the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, and its boisterous head Pat Lynch (who rarely misses an opportunity to grandstand) were nowhere to be seen. Instead, just two older PBA members loitered around the courthouse and kept to themselves.

Police Unions Call For Tarantino Boycott After He Protest Police Violence

November 6, 2015 Scott Eric Kaufman, www.salon.com , , , ,
By Scott Eric Kaufman for Salon, Note: Huffington Post reports the threatening language of police union leader. The language sounds like he means Tarantino will suffer a “surprise” before his next film is released, it is not until much later where he clarifies it will be an economic surprise. Will this kind of language incite violence or other police abuse against Tarantino? If it does police should expect a huge blowback from the action. The head of the Fraternal Order of Police said he has a "surprise" for filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. Jim Pasco, executive director of the largest U.S. police union, offered the creepy statement Thursday to The Hollywood Reporter, vowing to get back at the "Pulp Fiction" director for comments decrying police brutality at a rally last month.

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