How Police Unions Are Defenders Of Violence

Sonali Kolhatkar speaks with Adeshina Emmanuel on Police Unions being defenders of violence.

As Kentucky’s Attorney General Daniel Cameron released grand jury evidence in the controversial indictments over Breonna Taylor’s police killing, activists cited one modest victory – a set of reforms for the Louisville Police Department that could prevent future killings like that of Taylor. But now the city has to negotiate with the local police union in order to implement those changes.

Police unions have long been a barrier to even the most modest of reforms in cities plagued by racist violence at the hands of law enforcement. Protecting those who beat, brutalize, and kill more than a thousand Americans each year, the unions play a special and often untouchable role in the national debate.

Read his recent article about police unions, published in collaboration with In These Times is called The Thing About Police Unions, HERE.

Adeshina Emmanuel is an editor at Injustice Watch. His recent article about police unions, published in collaboration with In These Times is called The Thing About Police Unions.

Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience. Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman. RUS airs on Free Speech TV every weekday.

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