This past year, a white police officer killed an African American teenager. The teenagers name was Michael Brown. This caused a big uproar in Ferguson, Missouri and controversy spread like wildfire across the nation. Everyone was talking about how a white police officer killed a black teen, how it was a racial issue, the cop should be persecuted, etc.
Understanding that another Ferguson could happen anywhere, Archie Jones had said “We know what happened nationally could happen right here.” Archie Jones works for Rocky Mount’s government. The city has more African Americans than any other race, so the Rocky Mount government came up with a program called “Know Your Rights.” After Michael Brown’s death, all across the nation citizens have been talking about how the police treat black people. African Americans have been stopped just because of their race, this is called profiling and it is illegal in many different places.
In October, Archie had attended a meeting regard the Ferguson shooting. Archie had become very worried that a Ferguson could happen in Rocky Mount. Archie Jones wasn’t the only one worried, this was also the case with Police Chief James Moore. The police in Rocky Mount had decided to hold a community meeting about your rights and how to act when stopped by an officer.
The people who attended the community meeting had asked many, many questions. They asked how they could tell if they were being stopped because they were black. They asked about what the officers had learned from the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Officer Henry King had mentioned it is important to carry out these community meetings so that the tragedy in Ferguson never happen again.
I believe that police do coerce people and misuse their power. These cops are supposed to be protecting people and helping the community, not throwing 12 year-olds down stairs or strangle a person selling cigarettes. There are cordial officers out there that do their job right but I’ve heard so much about the abuse of power that it out numbers the good officers.
https://newsela.com/articles/police-youth-talking/id/7078/
Nick07 • Mar 8, 2015 at 8:35 pm
I understand people want to protest but they have to understand that Police Officers have deadly weapons and if they feel threatened they dont care they will shoot you. It also is sad because cops shoot more people that aren’t white because of racial profiling. I agree cops should be protecting us not harming us.
Jack77 • Mar 3, 2015 at 12:23 pm
Protests (riots) are equivalent to locking yourself in your room at your parents house and pouting. No change or progress is being made.