Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves will be published in April 2026 by Basic Books.
“Blue Power is a tour de force. Beautifully researched and written, this book shows how police officers transformed whining about respect into wielding political clout. Schrader tells a big, lively, harrowing story. And as the best big stories always do, the book doesn’t exhaust what can and should be known. Rather, it offers readers and strategists tools to make sense of the forces of organized violence on the make. Read it now."
—Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of Abolition Geography
—Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of Abolition Geography
“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
—Kim Phillips-Fein, author of Fear City
“In Blue Power, Stuart Schrader tells the story of how local, state, and federal governance in the United States was diverted to the purpose of protecting and serving the police rather than the people. This is an urgent book—deeply researched and boldly argued.”
—Walter Johnson, author of The Broken Heart of America
—Walter Johnson, author of The Broken Heart of America
More information here.
Publications
Academic
American Journal of Sociology
Volume 131, Issue 1
H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum
March 3, 2025
Journal of Social History
2025
World-Systems Analysis at a Critical Juncture
2023
Small Wars & Insurgencies
Volume 33, Issue 4-5
American Historical Review
Volume 125, Issue 3
Non-academic
The Drift
December 2, 2025
Boston Review
June 27, 2022
The New Republic
May 27, 2021
Abolition for the People
October 7, 2020