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Joesoph Foust
Messer 3
March 11,2016

Police Brutality
Malcolm X once said, Were not anti-police.were anti-police brutality. There have
been many events that police have shot and killed innocent people, because they call it
misunderstood accidents. Many of them were self defense. Many were not. We know that police
are meant to keep the peace, but they are forcing it on the people. On the other side, media has
given police a bad image by slandering their actions through publications. Throughout history,
the government has struggled to regulate police brutality to protect the people.

Police brutality has existed in our society for centuries. In 1877 the labor workers of
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company went on strike. The workers wanted a raise and better
working conditions. The president of the company called in the local militia and federal troops to
put the strike to an end. The militia and troops used lethal force to stop the strike. (Railroads)

Then, in 1914, the Ludlow Massacre occurred. Colorado mining companies allowed
miners and their families to live in company owned homes. As the company profits were
decreasing, the company had evicted the miners and their families homes, which That led the
miners to start the strike. The miners and their families set up camp on public property near the
mining facility and set up a strike. Colorado militiamen, coal company guards, and thugs hired as

private detectives and strike breakers to stop the strike at any cost. They shot and killed 18
families and miners. ("The Ludlow Massacre.")
10 years later the hanapepe massacre occurred. A group of strikers took two people
hostage in a Japanese-language school, so they couldcan get better pay. The sheriff's had placed a
group of deputized sharpshooters hiding on a nearby hill. 16 strikers were killed.(Hanapepe
Massacre)

During the 1960s at the time of the freedom march the police set a road block on a
bridge to stop the march. Police used lethal force on the peaceful freedom marchers and many
were beaten and arrested. Many innocent people were hospitalized. (Civil Rights)
Today police brutality has been happening recently. A woman was beaten by a police
officer, because she tried to stop him from shooting her dog. She was given a ticket for
misdemeanor obstruction. (Exclusive)
We need to find ways to events like that from happening. The government does need
police brutality for riots, bank heist and hostages situations. The police force needs to be
retrained to handle a simple arrest without using lethal force (Swarts, Phillip). Some of the police
officers should place their guns in a compartment in the police cruiser when they are going to
give a ticket unless they have to use lethal force on armed suspect. A simple crime like a
unarmed man stelling should end with bloodshed. The way that police acts ends up end being a
misunderstanding and end getting an innocent person killed.
We must put an end to police brutality and hope for a change for the future. Police will
think before they act, and think of the outcome from their actions.

Works Cited

"A Massacre Forgotten." - Honolulu Magazine. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

Ennis, Alek. Personal interview. 20 February 2016.
"Exclusive: Mom Arrested for Saving Her Dog From Being Murdered by a Cop Found NOT
GUILTY." The Free Thought Project. 02 Mar. 2016. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.
"Long Road to Justice - Policing the Police and Prosecuting the Klan." The Leadership

Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

"The Ludlow Massacre." The Ludlow Massacre. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.
"Railroads and the Making of Modern America." Railroads and the Making of Modern America.
Web. 11 Mar. 2016.
Swarts, Phillip. "Police Need Better Training and Community Relations, Presidential Task Force
Is Told." Washington Times. The Washington Times. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.