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Matthew Rosa
Ms. Gardner
English Honors
28 October 2014
Hero or Tyrant?
Many lives of innocent civilians are lost each year due to the careless acts from police
authorities. Yes, there may be a reason behind these acts but I don't think they can replace the
lives we lost. I am here today to educate everyone on this horrible topic, and together, we the
people can put an end to this crime. Police officers are often referred to as heroes but are they
really? Are you sure that they arent tyrants?
Police officers do not have their life easy. Everyday they are putting their lives on the
block. They are equipped with weapons if they need to use them. But are they using their
weapons correctly? Some say that such harsh weapons are needed for the police officers to
protect the people and I agree; but, some officers are not as trained as others and that is where
our problem is occurring. Every once in a while you will see on the news Officer involved
shooting and you wonder why these are always happening? Are the people wrong or are their
blames just?
The term hero can be defined as one who is looked upon for their courages duties. Police
officers are many times referred to as heros but are also hated on for their acts. One day a police
officer might be referred to as Superman, but the next day they could be referred to as a tyrant. A
police officer could of just saved a man from getting killed, or he just killed a man. An example
of a police officer committing a tyrant act is the shooting of Andy Lopez. Andy was killed in
Santa Rosa because the officer mistook his toy gun for a real gun and opened fire. The shooting

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prompted many protests in California about police brutality. The family reasoned that the
shooting was without probable cause. This signifies the police acting without reason. Police
officers are equipped with gear such as bullet proof vests and fully body protective gear when
they go into riots to break them up. Sometimes the officers will start pushing random people out
of the crowd even though they are not in the riot. The government chooses to focus on their
enforcement instead of the people. Countless officers are treating people like nothing. I found
this quote regarding the force of police officers, Police officer deaths are at an all time low, yet
cases of police officers are at an all time high.(King) Many crimes are being committed by
police officers and not very many of them are dying. Officers are making poor decisions and they
need to be educated. I believe that these people that are protesting about these issues are doing
the right thing. You need to continue to fight against this war and hopefully one day the
government will recognize a serious issue that occurs all across the globe. Hopefully one day
changes are made.
Another example of countless officers committing tyrannis acts was when a 17 year old
boy tased into a coma and suffered brain damage(King) for the rest of his life. One act from
the police officer put the boy in pain for his entire life. His life was changed forever. Not only
does that sound like the officer was a tyrant but he tased him because he was borrowing his
friends car. The department responded about the attack saying that the officer acted within policy.
Many officers are allowed to walk freely from these acts because they are part of the government
but what would happen if a citizen committed such a harsh crime? When a good cop does
something wrong, we feel the ripples across the globe.(Kinnaird) The sound of a police officer
committing a crime will spread everywhere. Do you think they would walk freely from his

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attack? No, the man or women would most likely be placed in prison for many years. This
perfectly exemplifies the flaw within the government.
Perhaps it is easy to speculate that a police officer is not a tyrant until something happens
to you. Until you feel the stabbing pain dreading over the loss of a loved one, until you sense the
fear of authority that surrounds you in every angle, until you struggle to maintain your humanity,
until you question the role of police authority.
In sum, I believe that this tyranny needs to come to an end. If police officers actually
became more educated, if police officers knew what was correct, if police officers made the right
decision, then maybe not as many people would die because of these tyrannis acts. I think that if
we the people start to get the governments attention then they will take actions. Do not expect
actions to be taken without anyone helping regarding the problem, but notice what the problem is
and find the actions needed to be taken yourself.

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Works Cited
King, Justin. "Start Forcibly Resisting Police Tyranny? -." D.C. Clothesline. N.p., 20 Sept. 2014.
Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
Kinnaird, Brian A. "Heroes Or Tyrants?" PoliceLink. A Monster Community, n.d. Web. 31 Oct.
2014.