the end of the nightstick

'there is more law at the end of a policeman's nightstick than in a decision of the supreme court' -statement from NYPD lieutenant alexander 'clubber' williams in 1877

'the end of the nightstick' is the title of a PBS 'point of view' (POV) documentary made in the 1990's on the subject of the scandalous and horrific systemic practice of a squad of chicago police of the previous 2 decades of beating and torturing confessions out of men of color. it provides a very rare street level point of view from those who have been subjected to the worst sorts of brutality and terrorism from 'america's finest', the police. it's very information dense, and unfortunately the audio is sometimes not as clear as one might wish, so i think it's best to take one's time viewing, stopping along the way frequently to ensure u understand what's being communicated.the actual film is only 44 minutes long. there will be a link to watch it on youtube at the very bottom of this post.

it should be noted that near the beginning of this film, the number of documented cases of police torture in chicago under the terroristic rein of the sadistic and racist police commander jon burge and his partners in lawless law enforcement was stated as being 'over 30'. the actual number turned out to be well over 100. the book linked below tells the story of one of them:
https://www.amazon.com/My-Midnight-Years-Surviving-Torture/dp/1613737661/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ronald+kitchen&qid=1593565257&s=books&sr=1-1

i find it amazing that this excellent documentary has so few views, particularly in light of the present day wave of protests against police brutality and the almost routine murder of black men by police officers in the usa, (usually with impunity) which has been exposed again and again in recent years. this should be seen by everyone who cares about justice and the need to rein in the brutal abuse of 'authority' (which sometimes includes judges and prosecutors who conspire [along with crooked law enforcement officers] to frame innocent defendants and convict them, sometimes for capital murder) in the usa.

for a much more in depth look at the police brutality scandal this film documents, one of the lawyers who played a primary role in fighting and exposing it has written a great book:

https://www.amazon.com/Torture-Machine-Racism-Violence-Chicago/dp/160846895X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=flint+taylor&qid=1593564482&s=books&sr=1-1  

and finally the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTthOb1DXmM