The question on police unions and their role in organizational reform has continued to raise debates with arguments highlighting both their positive and negative influences. In the last few decades, the role of police unions has continued to grow around the world as seen by protest meetings and rallies towards change of organizational structures of governance. They have shown a capacity to challenge administrations and governments and raise national conversations regarding police rights. Despite this, police unions and their history in Australia have not gained many reactions in academic studies. It is until recently that academic researchers have contributed to this study on police unions and their role in policing reform by focusing on how unionization can help achieve reforms and allow protection of constitutional rights. Today, police unions are part of the policing landscape who should be part of the reform plans. They have come of age to become successful collective labor organizations enrolling the entire police workforce. The importance of police unions can never be underestimated considering their role in enacting discipline and professional conduct from the police officers. For example, the unions have been at the forefront in fighting for the equal wages of women in the police force. The idea of police reform has involved recruiting and promoting women within the workplace which is only possible through the unionization of the police. Later on, the unions were involved in equal powers for both men and women who were admitted as full members in the ranks. In essence, police unions have historically been involved in addressing most areas of the policing environment. This paper addressed the history of police unions in seeking to change the policing environment through reforms. When writing about the unions, studies have focused on their interventions in the political arena and their potential to influence the democratic process and alter criminal justice policy. The standpoint of this chapter was on the role of police unions in influencing police reform through political action and changing the industrial environment. The history of police unions in Australia is discussed alongside the changing nature of their aspirations to become more involved in the policing environment. Understanding the historical formation of police unions and how their aspirations and interests are changing is crucial to appreciating such prospects. This chapter is based on the prospects of using police unions to achieve reforms in the police departments. It has been subsequently revealed that police unions are not limited to the street campaigning, but can take a bigger and active role in the political and industrial environment. For example, police unions in New Zealand has been involved in several industrial-political activism as they continue to enter into the political arena. This means they can raise issues pertaining to law and order among other political and industrial reform. The role of police unions has continued to grow with reports that police officers are becoming conscious of their rights as workers. In the past, the police were matched with restrictions on political rights and required to be unbiased in serving the public. However, the police unions have advocated for the expansion of police worker rights during the reforms. Furthermore, the Australian police unions have been engaging in political campaigns focusing on law and order issues articulated to employee rights. Some roles of police unions include hindering arbitrary power from above and preventing the likelihood to start a strike and creating a working climate that encourages commitment. Police unions in Australia have benefited from the highly favorable political environment allowing them to participate in the reforms. This privilege means they engage in police reforms by serving their member interests and represent them to the top executives. A favorable political climate and state-wide jurisdictions for the police have been attributed to the success of unionization in Australia when compared to other countries. As a result, Australian police unions have actively pursued reform that can boost police power by resisting potential abuse of power from the tanks. They have interfered in the political arena by embarking on a campaign to support enhanced police rights including supporting a case for enhanced political and industrial rights for the police characterized by greater democratic sympathies. The police themselves have in the past been unsure of the implications associated with being affiliated to the police unions. As a result of this uncertainty, several controversies and concerns have been raised regarding the capacity of these unions to engage in reforms within the law enforcement departments and whether they should engage in political reasons. These concerns include fears that the unions can undermine the government authority as well as that of the executives. For example, there has been evidence of police union power used in enacting selective discretion practices by the NSW which can raise fears of giving them high responsibilities. Despite these concerns, police unions can be vocal players in the area of operations and reform by sharing the concerns of their members. They have been credited to achieving several milestones in rallying for police worker rights while pursuing agendas during the last few decades as they become self-conscious in shaping the policing environment. The capacity of police unions to influence pay and working conditions for their members is largely hindered by the economic circumstances. Police reform is focused on maintaining the professional standards of accountability and handling all complaints respectfully. The transparency of police union activities in Australia can be read as a positive sign in their capacity to participate in political processes without bias. This means they stay clear of engaging in any anti-democratic processes to win government favors. In conclusion, police unions have become major players in the law enforcement system seeking to fight for police rights. They are especially crucial to help police officers who have struggled for industrial and political rights, with their roles extending to the political and industrial environment. This chapter described the capacity of police unions to transform workplace relations, helping to deal with grievances caused by the arbitrary authority of executives. They have succeeded in restricting any untrammeled authority of the inspectors and won battles seeking to enhance police rights in the organization. As such, they can extend their influence in achieving police reform within the political and industrial environments such as helping to limit the arbitrary authority of senior officers.
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