"inally, there are the police themselves to consider. In other advanced economies, cops are an instrument of national policy. But in America’s hyper-federal system the country’s 18,000 state and local police departments are political players in their own right - people who sometimes do what politicians tell them and sometimes do not. The growth of police unions since the 1960s has intensified the gamesmanship by permitting rank-and-file cops to play state and local officials off against one another across municipal lines. It permits them to appeal more effectively to middle-class home owners for support and to establish alliances with right-wing politicians." https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1309/what-will-remain-of-democracy/
"inally, there are the police themselves to consider. In other advanced economies, cops are an instrument of national policy. But in America’s hyper-federal system the country’s 18,000 state and local police departments are political players in their own right - people who sometimes do what politicians tell them and sometimes do not. The growth of police unions since the 1960s has intensified the gamesmanship by permitting rank-and-file cops to play state and local officials off against one another across municipal lines. It permits them to appeal more effectively to middle-class home owners for support and to establish alliances with right-wing politicians." https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1309/what-will-remain-of-democracy/
Thanks Dan, the federal system and lack of federal oversight is another striking aspect of cops in the U.S.