What are the four areas that need to be examined in order to fully understand the impact of unions on a community? How do they impact the community?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer should include points such as:
There are four areas that need to be examined in order to fully understand and appreciate the impact of police unions, both within their respective agencies as well as in the community. These include the impact on discipline and accountability, the impact on the police subculture, the impact on city or county finances, and the impact on politics.
Impact on Discipline and Accountability:
Police unions play a role in reinforcing the norms of police subculture.
There are specific provisions in many collective bargaining agreements that inhibit investigations.
Police unions have had a major impact on the development of citizen oversight agencies, whether in the form of civilian review board or police auditors, or some other arrangement.
Impact on the Police Subculture:
The police subculture is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, of which the police union is only one aspect or influence.
There are great differences in the informal cultures among police departments, and the relative influence of the police union varies from department to department.
The differences in local police subcultures have some significant and measureable difference in all aspects of policing, including overall management practices, accountability and discipline, officer interactions with citizens, and local politics.
Impact on City or County Finances:
Police unions have been generally successful in negotiating good salary and fringe benefit packages for their members.
This has had some significant impact on the finances of cities and counties.
Although the nature of this impact is not known, it is believed that police negotiations set the standard for negotiations by other municipal employees.
It is not known to what extent negotiated police salaries and benefits force cities and counties to reduce expenditures for other services, such as streets, parks, and libraries.
Impact on Politics:
Police unions are generally a well-organized interest group with significant financial resources and political clout.
They regularly endorse political candidates for office, support or oppose proposed ordinances or referenda, and influence city or county budgets.
Police unions are also well organized to support and provide financial assistance to candidates for local office, particularly mayor and city council.
Unions have been known to have a dramatic effect on local elections.