Word Up welcomes historian Stuart Schrader to discuss his new book Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves (out April 14, 2026), a history of police unions that reveals how American law enforcement built a political movement that made cops untouchable. In conversation with Schrader will be Philip V. McHarris, author of Beyond Policing.

“Stuart Schrader’s sweeping history of the political mobilization of the police makes clear just how historically distinctive the role of the police in our society is today. Blue Power chronicles the rise of the police as a political force, and the lobbying strategies, rhetorical campaigns, and legal gambits police unions and associations have deployed to protect the power and autonomy of their members. This has indelibly shaped not only American cities and criminal justice policies, but our society and politics as a whole. The book is a remarkable achievement.”—Kim Phillips-Fein, author of Fear City