Unless you've been living under a rock for the past several decades, you know that the NYPD is one of the most powerful political forces in New York City—power that is bolstered by the unions that represent its rank-and-file officers, as well as some of its detectives, lieutenants, and sergeants. That disproportionate influence can feel like an immutable fact of city life—but in his latest book, "Blue Power," scholar and author Stuart Schrader argues that that hasn't always been the case.
"What police do on the streets and what they do in city hall’s backrooms are not the same," writes Schrader, a Brooklyn-based associate history professor at Johns Hopkins University who studies race and policing. (His first book, "Badges Without Borders," examines policing in the U.S. through the lens of counterinsurgency). "Over the past few decades, however, not only has the political work they do out of uniform supported the operational work they do in uniform, but their political tactics have also come to resemble operations." In essence, Schrader argues, police unions in New York City and beyond gained political power by acting like beat cops: taking a reactive and hypervigilant posture in the face of threats, protecting their own above all else, and wielding their power without hesitation.