Call for Mandatory Race Relations Program & Sensitivity Assessment for Police Officers Nationwide
- Target:
- Police Officers (currently active, in training, and potential recruits)
- Region:
- United States of America
Our country's history demonstrates that blacks are perceived as a threat, are more likely to be perceived as suspicious, and treated disparately by the law.
1. African Americans and Hispanics are 30% more likely to be approached/pulled over than whites,
2. African Americans and Hispanics are then three times more likely to be searched,
3. Last year African Americans were shot at by police twice as much as whites,
4. African American defendants are 75% more likely to be charged with offenses that carry sentence minimums compared to whites with comparable crimes,
5. African Americans serve sentences that are 10% longer than whites with comparable offenses.
Those with black/brown skin are historically and too often perceived as threatening, which results in the disproportionate arrest, injury and death of African American and Hispanic people across the nation.
1. President Obama's remarks 7. 2016: http://time.com/4397563/watch-president-obama-alton-sterling-philando-castile-police-shootings/
2. Police killed 136 blacks in 2016: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-people-killed-by-police-america_us_577da633e4b0c590f7e7fb17
3. Police killed over 100 unarmed blacks in 2015: http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/unarmed/
4. Cop admits he would have shot Philando Castile 5 times: http://www.copblock.org/162699/philando-castille-five-times/
To correct the issue of black/brown skin being too often perceived as threatening, we, the undersigned call on the Federal Government to mandate the successful completion of a Race Relations Program & Sensitivity Assessment for Police Officers Nationwide.
The components of the program should include the following:
- Training for multicultural awareness, biases, disparate treatment, prejudices, etc. with an emphasis on understanding issues impacting people of color and practical skill-building exercises.
- Intercultural inclusivity approaches, bringing many cultures (including the Euroamerican cultures) to the issues.
- Exercises that reveal conscious and unconscious biases; appropriate ways to serve and protect diverse communities,
- De-escalation training, requiring positive results from simulation test,
- On-going independent clinical assessments to measure mental and emotional sensitivity/posture and responsible engagement with people of color (for in-force and officers-in-training). Positive results to be required for active status,
- Confidential system to report conduct that may suggest racism/sexism/homophobic beliefs or actions, and outlined disciplinary course of action.
If assessments/evaluations do not yield positive results, officers shall be placed on leave, inactive status, or reassigned to a non-community facing role until/unless the issue is rectified.
This petition will be delivered to:
- President Barack Obama
- U.S. House of Representatives
- U.S. Senate
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Call for Mandatory Race Relations Program & Sensitivity Assessment for Police Officers Nationwide petition to Police Officers (currently active, in training, and potential recruits) was written by S Fleming and is in the category Civil Rights at GoPetition.