JaylenDiaz

ElenaMaker
October,23,2015
U.S.History

PoliceBrutalityResearchPaper
ResearchQuestion:
Didthepoliceuseexcessiveforceagainstthestudents?
BackgroundSection
1.)The incident that occurred about two weeks ago at Tolman High School was out of control.
The Tolman resource officer arrested two brothers. The younger brother was body slammed to
the floor from behind and maced. Which was unnecessary, because he wasn't resisting arrest
fromtheofficer.
2.) Thewaywe define Identityisverydifferent.WesayourIdentityishowwechoosetopresent
ourselves to the world. The Tolman incident involved the school resource officer and two
brothers.Thebrotherwerebothhandcuffedandmacedbytheofficer.
3.) The Legacy of the incident is that the Tolman student made up a identity right now about
Tolman students resist arrest anddisrespectthelaw.Thestudentsmadeupalabelforhighschool
students in this area. Which is sad because not all high schoolkidsaredisrespectfultowardsthe
police.
4.) That now that there have been so many different incidents where police have killed young
colored people for reasons that are not that serious. In some cases have caused riots throughout
citiesthathavemadethecommunitiesbedestroyed.
5.) It just adds on more stress and disrespect towards thepoliceofthiscountry.Itsmakespolice
officers more of a target of violence which isn't good because there are some people out there

that aren't afraid of killing police officers. which is horrible because police officers lives are in
dangerandtheycouldnotbedoinganythingthathasanyreferencetotheincidents.
6.) Voice is whatthepeople shoulduse insteadofphysicalviolence,becausethey'renotgoingto
get anywhere, because all everyone keeps doing is using violence to get their point across.
Whichismakingpeoplegetarrestedwhichisn'tgoodforcommunities.
6.) Voice is a tool that you can use to through to people, without using violence to solve the
issue. Howyouchoosetouseyourvoicecan makeuponhowyouchooseyourownidentity.For
example if you useyourvoiceinabadwaythenyou'rehurtingyourownidentityandsometimes
youdon'tevenknowit.
7.) The first person who used their voice to describe the incident was a Tolman high school
student. He was very upset because of the way his friends were treated by the school resource
officer. When there wasn't any intentions from the students to hurt theofficerordisrespecthim.
The second person to describe the story was Mayor Grebien. He was telling the people of
Pawtucket that their was much more involved in the incident then we thought. That the
Pawtucket police are going to be doingathoroughinvestigationofwhathappenedandgettothe
bottomofit.

1.) A assumption and label both define what something is to someone and how they see it.
You can make assumptions and labels about a person and always have that about them.
People make assumptions and labels way tofastabout peopleandcertainthingswhichis
horrible.

2.) The officer had made an assumption that the students were resisting arrest and that they
were trying to harm the officer. So with making that assumption about the students he
used the force he thought was necessary which waswronginmanyways.Buttheofficer
wasalsooutnumberedandthekidswerealreadybeingdisrespectfultotheofficer.
3.) The student could have made theassumptionthattheofficerdidnothavetobesoviolent
with them and that they were just trying to resolve the situation but the officer thought
something else which led to his actions. We made assumptions of the officersayingthat
their was no need for that kind of forcetobeusedbytheofficer.Butatfirstwedidn'tdo
anyresearchabouttheincidentanddidn'tlookatbothsidesofthestory.
4.) The assumptions were making are putting a huge label on Tolman high school. Making
other think that the students at that school fight against the resource officer and theyare
disrespectfulstudents.

Thinking historically isn't just thinking about the past but also thinking about the future
as well. Because all the things we do now make an impact on the future and it can change the
waythingsareforusinthefuture,whichisweird.
EvidenceSection:
I.

Evidence#1:SocialMediaSource
A. TitleOfarticleFacebookPostonOctober14,2015
B. Website:Facebook.com
C. Explanation This article provides evidence that shows the two students being
detained by the school resource officer, and the 14 year old student getting body

slammed bytheofficer.Whiletheotherstudentwasmasedandhandcuffed on the

floor. Other teacher had ran into the office to assist the officer in the arrest of
TylerBerdugo.

II.

Evidence#2FormalMediaSource
A. TitleofarticleBoydescribesinjuriesinTolmanschoolarrests
B. http://turnto10.com/news/local/boysdescribeinjuriesinschoolarrest

C. It tells methathowthepoliceofficerphysicallyassaultedthestudentandhowthe
studentwasn'ttryingtoresistarrest.

III.

Evidence #3 Photo
(
This Photo shows a man who was protesting, being arrested by
policeofficers)
A. Youwanttoincludetheactualphoto,awebsitelink,andtheexplanation

IV.

Evidence#4WitnessTestimony
A. 17yearoldEvanderDeburgo
B. I was trying to get my brother out of the sitchuation and make the cops job
easierfromTurnto10.com
C. I think that when Ivander joined the conflict between the officer and hisyounger
brother the officer felt as if he was being played by Ivander so he started tograb
himtotellhimtostaythathecan'ttakehisbrothernow,becauseheisintrouble.


V.

Evidence#5GovernmentOfficial
A. MayorofPawtucketDonaldGrebian
B. The Superintendent is going to be placing to Pawtucket Officers in each High
Schoolinsteadofone
C. I think the reason why there going to do that is, becausejustincaseanythinglike
this happens again there will be two officers to deal with the situation instead of
onesothingsdon'tgetoutofhandlikethedid.
AnalysisSection
1. My story of what really happened is that the officer used excessive force. The
student wasn't trying to reach for the officer's hip, there was no way that the
student was able to grab his hip if he was a couple feet away from the officer. I
think that the officer could have handled the situation better than how hedid.He
could of talked to the student, there was no need to body slam the student and
macehimintheface.
2. The police officer did not respond appropriately to the initial fight, because the
older brother wasn't being disrespectful to the officer. He was trying to calm his
brotherandtellhimtojustlistentotheofficer beforethesituationgetsworse.The
police also did not respond appropriately to the protests. Theydidn'thavetostart
spraying mace throughout the crowds, because not all students were there
protesting violently they wanted a peaceful protest. The students did have
appropriate response it wasgangmembersfromtheneighborhoodsthoughtitwas

a good idea to vandalize police cars. So there for it made a general label for the
protestors that they were there for violence.Themediacoveragewasappropriate,
because the officer was in the wrong and that he physically hurt a student and
now thestudentcannotcontinueonwith hisfootballcareer.TheMayorhandledit
very well by having a meeting with school officials and discussing the situation
thoroughlywiththemandthenexplainingittothepublic.
Conclusion
This event addsonmoretopolicebrutalityonteensandminorities,alsobecausenotonly
was this police brutality but the officer was a middle age white male. It doesn't make the
situation better at all because of that. I think the three things we can do to help is spreadingthe
wordonSocialMedia,havingTownMeetingandalsobyProtestingPeacefully.