However, it is unclear to me, which is more outrageous in its protection of police officers—unions or law enforcement bill of rights.

Here is how a typical police misconduct investigation works in most states with LEOBR, as described by Mike Riggs in a 2012 article in Reason, titled, “Why firing a Bad Cop is Damn Near Impossible”:

“A complaint is filed against an officer by a member of the public or a fellow officer.

Unlike a member of the public, the officer under investigation is to be interrogated ‘at a reasonable hour,’ with a union member present.

Unlike a member of the public, the officer under investigation cannot be ‘threatened with disciplinary action’ at any point during his interrogation.

But under nearly every law enforcement bill of rights, the following additional privileges are granted to officers: Their departments cannot publicly acknowledge that the officer is under investigation; if the officer is cleared of wrongdoing or the charges are dropped, the department may not publicly acknowledge that the investigation ever took place, or reveal the nature of the complaint.