The Crooked Police of the West

While in California the Okies discovered a challenge that they never expected.  Many law enforcement officers were corrupt by the rich money owners.  The police officers always favored the needs of the land owners.  This lead to a negligence toward the mistreatment of the Okies.  In fact, the the police officers would burn down the villages of the Okies to separate the groups, so they could not organize and create unions.  That was the fear of all land owners, an organization to regulate wages.  Many times the police would not abide by the law themselves.  They would make up crimes to incriminate the people that were a threat to them.  The police were able to get away with these human rights violations because many people viewed the Okies as scum. (Steinbeck 359)