القوة الزرقاء: كيف تكتلت الشرطة لحماية وخدمة أنفسهم

The history of police unions reveals how American law enforcement built a political movement that put cops above the law. “A feat... Read it now.” - Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of The Geography of Abolition in America Today, police have unparalleled power. On the streets, officers use violence at their discretion. Behind closed doors, they are more powerful. In city halls, police intimidate local leaders and thwart attempts at public oversight. And in state legislatures and Washington, D.C., the police lobby and union leaders zealously defend a bipartisan consensus against any reform, even minor ones. And yet, just fifty years ago, police still operated at the mercy of politicians Democratically elected, not the other way around. In Blue Power), Stuart Schrader tells the story of the rise of a grassroots movement of rank-and-file police officers who raised police authority above the law. Taking advantage of an angry public response to urban uprisings and civil rights movements, organizers launched their campaign in the 1960s. County after county, they formed unions and other organizations, controlled working conditions, freed themselves from oversight, and protected themselves from austerity. By the 2000s, this movement had triumphed nationwide, consolidating the power of the police to override the public interest in the name of law and order. Through deep archival research, Blue Power reveals how the police forced American democracy to support it.