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It has long been recognized that trust critically influences the effective functioning of political institutions, yet the determinants of trust in the police—a classic order institution—are still not well understood. We examine the effect of police unionization on trust in the police and, in particular, in mediating the adverse impacts of police killings of civilians on trust within the U.S. multiracial context. We analyze trust responses and corresponding demographic data on approximately 5,000 respondents across eleven metropolitan statistical areas from the 2006 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, matched to relevant city- and state-level correlates from three additional data sets. Our results confirm prior studies' findings of a large gap between Black and non-Black trust. Although police killings of civilians normally reduce trust among non-Black people while leaving Black levels of trust unaffected, we find that in jurisdictions where police bargain collectively the drop in non-Black trust is effectively eliminated, suggesting that police unionization essentially abets the polarization of trust in the police between Black people and non-Black people.

In the 1970s uncertainties about the exact nature of the police's role in a democracy multiplied. In this title, first published in 1979, Whitaker perceptively, critically yet impartially, analyses the effectiveness, sociology, misconduct, and future of the police suggesting radical reforms in their powers and relationship with the public.

This article provides an analysis of developments in the determination of police pay since 1919. It reveals the contested nature of public sector pay setting where the government of the day pursues short‐term economic goals rather than taking a long‐term approach to staffing issues in essential public services. In the case of the police, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has traditionally used both industrial and political methods to put pressure on key government decision makers. Developments reveal increasingly fraught relations between the police and the government, with the 2008 pay dispute in particular marking a new low point. Once it became clear after the 2010 general election that the government would ignore industrial pressure, then the Police Federation of England and Wales felt driven to increase the activities of its political arm. This ultimately backfired with the Plebgate scandal leaving them naked in the negotiating chamber.

Examined is the divergence between policy & practice in the field of police work. Problems facing police administrators are identified; they include policy ambiguity, the difficulty of monitoring field behavior, & legal restrictions. Police culture can often sway attitudes of new recruits away from administrative preferences. The reward & punishment structure of a police department is often determined by civil service regulations. Modified Author Summary.