The idea of police occupational culture or cop culture has been a source of academic interest and debate since research into policing began in earnest in the 1960s. Police culture has become a lens through which a number of aspects of the police and policing more broadly have been studied, including the use of discretion, police corruption, institutional racism, sexism and police reform. For the most part, these studies have been done in topical isolation from each other and have focused rather narrowly on Anglo-American state policing forms. Using studies from Australia, Britain, the United...

What role can and should police unions and rank-and-file officers play in driving and shaping police reform? Police unions and their members are often viewed as obstructionist and conservative, not as change agents. But reform efforts are much more likely to succeed when they are supported by the rank-and-file, and line officers have knowledge, skills and insights that can be invaluable in promoting reform. Efforts to involve police unions and rank-and-file officers in police reform are less common than they should be, but they are increasing, and there is a good deal to learn about policing,...