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States and cities with police union agreements that forbid the transfer or reassignment of an officer as a form of discipline
| Police hiring, training, and discipline |
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| • Police collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) • Ballotpedia CBA dashboard •Reform proposals •CBA areas of inquiry and disagreement •Arguments about police collective bargaining • Index of articles about criminal justice policy |
| Click here for more analysis of police hiring, training, and disciplinary requirements by state and city on Ballotpedia |
This page contains information from a Ballotpedia analysis about which states and cities have police union agreements that forbid the transfer or reassignment of an officer as a form of discipline. It is part of an analysis of police union collective bargaining agreements and related arrangements with police unions concerning hiring, training, and disciplinary requirements in the 50 states and top 100 cities by population.
According to the analysis, one state and two cities have police union agreements that forbid the transfer or reassignment of an officer as a form of discipline as of December 2023.
This page features the following sections:
Maps
Map of which states have police union agreements that forbid the transfer or reassignment of an officer as a form of discipline
Map of which cities have police union agreements that forbid the transfer or reassignment of an officer as a form of discipline
Background
Through the lens of more than 30 research questions related to police hiring, training, and discipline, Ballotpedia examined the collective bargaining agreements, statutes, and regulatory codes governing the 50 states and the top 100 US cities by population.
Some of the hiring, training, and discipline standards for police officers not established by statutes or regulations arise from negotiations with police unions. Those negotiations are often codified in collective bargaining agreements. Those agreements are the contracts that states and cities sign following negotiations with police unions. Some states and cities restrict collective bargaining, but may still negotiate with police unions using other methods. After negotiating with the unions, those jurisdictions sometimes establish police standards through documents including memoranda of understanding or meet and confer agreements.
You can find lists of all the collective bargaining agreements and other documents used by Ballotpedia for this survey here for states and here for cities.
Summary of findings
Ballotpedia's analysis of state and city union policies produced the following key takeaways (as of December 2023):
- There is one state CBA and two city CBAs that forbid the transfer or reassignment of an officer as a form of discipline
- There are 25 state CBAs and 77 city CBAs that do not forbid the transfer or reassignment of an officer as a form of discipline
- There are 22 states and 21 cities that do not have police CBAs
- There are two states and one city in which the request for information on police CBAs was denied or information could not be verified
Results
The tables below include each state and city in alphabetical order and indicate those that have police union agreements that specify how law enforcement officers will be punished for misconduct. To see the provisions Ballotpedia used to support these results, click here.
- YES means that the jurisdiction has police union agreements that specify how law enforcement officers will be punished for misconduct
- NO means that the jurisdiction does not have police union agreements that specify how law enforcement officers will be punished for misconduct
- UNKNOWN means that Ballotpedia could not verify whether the jurisdiction had police union agreements that specify how law enforcement officers will be punished for misconduct
- NO CBA means that the jurisdiction does not have a police union agreement
- FOIA DENIED means that the jurisdiction rejected Ballotpedia's request to review any collective bargaining agreements
| State | transfer |
|---|---|
| Alabama | NO CBA |
| Alaska | YES |
Members cannot be transferred as a form of discipline. | |
| Arizona | NO CBA |
| Arkansas | NO CBA |
| California | NO |
| Colorado | NO CBA |
| Connecticut | NO |
| Delaware | FOIA DENIED |
| District of Columbia | NO |
| Florida | NO |
| Georgia | NO CBA |
| Hawaii | NO |
| Idaho | NO CBA |
| Illinois | NO |
| Indiana | NO CBA |
| Iowa | NO |
| Kansas | NO |
| Kentucky | NO CBA |
| Louisiana | NO CBA |
| Maine | NO |
| Maryland | NO |
| Massachusetts | NO |
| Michigan | NO |
| Minnesota | NO |
| Mississippi | NO CBA |
| Missouri | NO CBA |
| Montana | NO |
| Nebraska | NO |
| Nevada | NO |
| New Hampshire | NO |
| New Jersey | NO |
| New Mexico | NO CBA |
| New York | NO |
| North Carolina | NO CBA |
| North Dakota | NO CBA |
| Ohio | NO |
| Oklahoma | NO CBA |
| Oregon | NO |
| Pennsylvania | NO |
| Rhode Island | NO |
| South Carolina | NO CBA |
| South Dakota | NO CBA |
| Tennessee | NO CBA |
| Texas | NO CBA |
| Utah | NO CBA |
| Vermont | NO |
| Virginia | NO CBA |
| Washington | NO |
| West Virginia | UNKNOWN |
| Wisconsin | NO |
| Wyoming | NO CBA |
See also
Footnotes
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