The police are an essential part
Of any society that's smart.
  Without troops to enforce,
  The laws that we endorse
Would be words nobody took to heart.

Hired to help, it seems we should respect
One whose job is "To serve and protect."
  But the honor that's due
  To these brave men in blue
Has lately become circumspect.

To stop crime is an admirable goal,
Arresting those who murdered or stole.
  But now far too often
  Innocents end in coffins
When policemen have caused the death toll.

They're supposed to be keeping the peace,
But lately overzealous police
  Have been quick to attack
  If the suspect is black,
And this terrible injustice must cease.

For police, there should be no sin greater
Than to shoot first and ask questions later.
  Men are innocent guys
  Until proof otherwise
Can be shown by an impartial rater.

Thus the NYPD were at fault
For their wholly unwarranted assault
  Against poor Amadou.
  Forty-one bullets flew
Before the shots finally did halt.

Four plainclothes men had Diallo alarmed;
He had no crime record and was unarmed.
  Yet for reasons we can't follow,
  They decided that Diallo
Was someone who needed to be harmed.

Although with disgust this might fill you,
The message we're sending should chill you.
  If you reach for your wallet
  A policeman might call it
A gun, and decide he can kill you.

And what's worse, this is not abnormality.
It got press because of the fatality.
  But we've had myriad cases
  Of violence by races
With unmitigated police brutality.

They don't take a "Stick to it" manner
"Take a stick to it" is their new banner.
  Now when walking the beat
  They will beat those they meet
With a nightstick, their fist, or a spanner.

Racist violence leaves us all awed,
Be it Rodney King or cattle prod.
  Cops are fast on the trigger
  They see not man, but "nigger";
This bigotry must be outlawed.

It has become a societal norm
To fear those in the blue uniform.
  The police have now shown us
  They don't serve us, but own us,
Which means it is time for reform.