Police employee organizations

Police employee organizations and unions have been identified as obstacles to police management as well as to policy implementation. While much has been made of the behavior of these organizations, little empirical work has addressed the nature of these organizations in terms of their structure, membership, and perspectives on police labor relationships. These organizations have mainly been examined by the use of police chief perspectives, or case studies of large police unions. This article addresses these issues using a national sample of police employee organizations and unions.