Los Angeles police officer Bob Baker, president of the Police Protective League, considers himself conservative, says the Los Angeles Times. “Don’t ever call a cop a liberal,” he says. The newspaper calls police unions “a hybrid of law-and-order conservatism and bread-and-butter liberalism. They may tilt Republican in party loyalty, but their labor representatives frequently turn to Democrats on matters such as pay and pensions.”
A November ballot measure in California called Proposition 75 would require public employee unions to get members’ written permission to spend their dues on political campaigns. California police unions are mobilizing against the proposition and its largely conservative backers. They contend Proposition 75 is designed to make it hopelessly cumbersome for them to raise election funds. “It’s extremely unfair,” said Baker, whose league represents 9,200 officers. Proposition 75 supporters say the initiative is all about fairness, because the unions finance candidates and causes that many of their members might not favor – namely, Democratic ones.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cops21sep21,1,4172386.story?coll=la-headlines-california