I’m going to be on KBOO — 90.7fm for those in the Portland area, kboo.fm for the rest of the world — talking about the history of police unions.
The show is 6pm, Wednesday, February 4, and I understand I’ll be on toward the beginning.
Here’s the full description, from the KBOO website:
An in-depth look at the history, role and political influence of police unions.
A KBOO Special Forum on Police Unions and their role in perpetuating a culture of police violence. This will be an in-depth look into the history, role and politics of police unions in the light of the post-Ferguson nation-wide uprising against police killings, abuse and impunity.
Three panel discussions will expore this issue from a variety of angles. First will be an overview of the history and role of police unions, going back to the early part of the 20th Century. Guests will include Joseph Slater, Professor of Law and Values at the University of Toledo College of Law and Kristian Williams of Portland, author of Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America.
The second panel will discuss the status and role of police unions from a labor perspective. Guests will include Jonathan Tasini, long-time labor activist in New York; Jamie Partridge, local community activist with the Letter Carriers’ Union and Jobs with Justice; Ahjamu Umi, local activist with the All-African Peoples’ Revolutionary Party and union organizer.
The third panel will look at police accountability/reform/abolition, citzen review and oversight and alternatives to policing. Guests will include Flint Taylor, long-time people’s attorney with the People’s Law Office in Chicago; Ashlee Albies, attorney with the National Lawyers’ Guild and with the Albina Ministerial Alliance in their ongoing involvement with the Department of Justice Settlement Process stemming from their lawsuit against the Portland Police Bureau; Teressa Raiford of Don’t Shoot Portland; Ahjamu Umi.