revisiting police unions

A useful article from Adam Serwer in The Atlantic on police unions as a threat...

A big caveat to open this discussion: "The police problem" (such as it is) is grossly over-rated next to other threats to society in general and Blacks in particular (e.g., welfare policies, K-12 govt monopoly power, FICA and Social Security, etc.).

That said, when you combine the force of govt with the inherent force of police services and the coercive element of a labor market cartel (unions), it's difficult not to expect trouble with the overuse of force.

To the extent that "police" should be reformed, recent efforts have too often been vague laments ("it should be better"), rather than dealing with more substantial matters (e.g., qualified immunity, unions, the over-militarization of police activity and police responses). Here, the article is similar to Balko's useful book on this topic.

We're often told that the Left is smarter. (We're also told they're more into science, but we know that's a load.) Why can't they see this point and marshal their resources accordingly?