The police department has said, and the DA's office has seconded, that neither I nor my brother were beaten. That flies in the face of logic. They rejected almost every potential black juror that came into the door. In San Francisco ILWU Local 10's constitution cops are barred from becoming members of our union because of the murderous role they played in the 1934 West Coast Maritime Strike, killing six workers. Police brutality against African-Americans has an historic component that can be traced to the 1800's, after the civil war.
Police are agents of the ruling class, and, as such, soldiers who serve their interests.
They exist, not to protect the people, but to protect capital. The reason is simple. If the desperation of the unemployed is moderated by the availability of various benefits, they will be less eager to take any job on any terms. In other words, an industrial reserve army of labor with unemployment benefits and food stamps is a less effective instrument with which to deflate wage and workplace demands. The state understands that if it can divide labor against the poor, it can cut the legs off both groups.