Nineteenth-century police functioned as municipal strikebreakers for management

Evidence

During periods of labor unrest, the police in many cities were often also an army on the side of management. They protected “scabs,” they broke up picket lines, they harassed unions and interfered with their activities. Practically speaking, the police were sometimes municipal strikebreakers. In Buffalo, in 1892, in a strike on the streetcar lines, the police were even accused of scabbing themselves. The union claimed that police officers acted as switchmen and helped move the trains. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3285

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Urban police forces originated partly to suppress class rebellion — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1119; Organized leftists helped a mining rebellion outgrow police control — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 191; Late-nineteenth-century courts functioned as a shield protecting established interests — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3602

Broader Connections

• Urban police forces originated partly to suppress class rebellion #expands (0.78) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1119
• Organized leftists helped a mining rebellion outgrow police control #corroborates (0.72) — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 191
• Late-nineteenth-century courts functioned as a shield protecting established interests #corroborates (0.70) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3602