OCR Text |
Show H "NEW YORK'S POLICE FORCE. H The testimony in the Becker murder case, as given by Jack Rose, H and as presented to its readers by the Standard. Saturday evening,' H is so startling in its disclosures of police brutality and criminality H in New York as to cause one to doubt that the great metropolis of the m United States is a civilized community in which human life is valued H by the police at much more than that of a dog. M Rose quotes Becker as saying, when they were discussing how to m punish Rosenthal for informing on the police, that if he wanted the m man "beaten up" he would do it himself and have the victim charged B with resisting an officer. m This evidence throws a piercing light into the dark comers of M New York's police force, and suggests an immediate safeguard against the tremendous power for evil of this privilege of the police to beat up a man for resisting arrest. When nn officer has a prisoner in his grasp and helpless and! sets upon him, prompted by anger or revenge, one of the worst crimes that could be committed against the law and sooiety ir perpetrated. To prevent this brutality tin's abuse of power a committee, free from police influence, should be called on to investigate all alleged attempts at resisting arrest in which tho one arrested is injured. No policeman, or othor officer should be allowed to assault a prisoner unless tho officer is in great peril and uuablo to obtain assistance, as-sistance, and no case of assault should be passed by without a thorough thor-ough investigation. The evidence in the Rosenthal murder case tends to prove that the most desperate gangs in New York were omployed by the police to commit awful deeds and were protected from punishment except when punishment was necessary to overawe and demonstrate the power of the police to " railroad'' the "gunmen" to jail or prison. There is no record, in all our history of municipal crimes to compare com-pare with this New York outrage. If the. good people of that city do not rise up in indignant protest and inaugurate a crusade against the murderous practices of their police force, they are too indifferent to their own insecurity to be classed with the best citizens of other cities. |