The ability of police departments to review civilian complaints may also be proscribed by union rules. In Portland, Ore., a 2012 Justice Department investigation revealed a process in which two-thirds of complaints were dismissed without inquiry. Those that did get investigated were subject to a six-tier review process that took more than a year to complete. Very few complaints were ever resolved.

The union protections also hamper departments’ ability to audit police conduct. This is critical when officers are involved in shootings. In many cities, we found that relatively few officers were responsible for a majority of use-of-force incidents. Yet cities rarely track the data or look for patterns of misconduct.

There can, of course, be legitimate reasons for a disparity: An officer on a warrant squad, for example, will use force more often than an officer with a quiet neighborhood beat. But internal investigations of deadly force could be so ponderous that in Miami, for example, we found two cases in which an officer was involved in a second fatal shooting before the department had determined whether the first was justified.

I met hundreds of officers in my work. The vast majority are honorable public servants, and many see the need for fundamental change.

Union-negotiated rules are only one barrier to change — and police chiefs sometimes cite union contracts unfairly, as an excuse for inaction. But state laws and collective bargaining agreements must be reformed. Disciplinary procedures should be less complex and rules that limit the effectiveness of civilian oversight must be eliminated. Transparency in police conduct must be the rule.

Reform is good for union members — in fact, the overreach of law enforcement bills of rights and some union contracts have harmed the very officers the contract rules are intended to protect. The obstacles to correcting police misconduct have not only undermined confidence in the police, especially among minorities, but have actually placed officers at greater risk by damaging relations between police departments and communities.

The job of restoring community trust in cities like Cleveland demands sustained effort both by political and police leaders and by regular police officers. The police unions must play their part.☐