Fraternal Order of Police

The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP ) is a professional association of U.S. police officers. With more than 325,000 members in 2,100 local groups, it is the largest U.S. professional association in this field.

The Association was originally established as a common interest and compound social fund, occurs in recent years but also increasingly as a collective negotiating union on. The Grand Lodge, the national governing body sitting in Nashville, Tennessee. He runs public relations, has worked as a lobbying organization for the U.S. Congress and regularly publishes information for its members such as Legal and negotiating tips. He financed memorials for deceased police officers in the service and provides support payments for members of the same.

On 14 May 1915, the two policemen Martin Toole and Delbert Nagle founded the Association of Pittsburgh. In his early days of FOP served mainly as a meeting point of police officers off duty and worked in many areas not unlike small private clubs about how the Lions Club.

After police in more and more areas, the rights were collectively negotiate collective agreements, the structure changed. In some places, chose the resident police the FOP as their appoint negotiators so that he actually took the role of a union there.

The extent to which the FOP this is a suitable organization, is disputed. Unlike most unions, he is open to all ranks, including for precisely that he has to negotiate with the management. In addition, the social structure of the orders changed too much and has little to do with the original objectives. In many areas of the U.S. prevails in order to continue an informal segregation, so that he has there almost only whites as members.