Black Parkland Activist Develops Political Agenda for George Floyd Movement-- The “African American Protection Act”

A CALL TO ACTION FOR THE PROTESTERS OF THE GEORGE FLOYD MOVEMENT by Parkland Activist, Kai Stone Koerber, Contributors: Mei-Ling Ho-Shing and Brandon Dasent

Right now, we are in the midst of what our opposers are calling chaos. They look at us as rioters: members of society that are rejecting the status quo in a way that is “unacceptable” to the powers that be. It is now up to us to change this narrative. We must declare the name of our movement, we must decide what we stand for (as one body of people), and we must demand the creation of legislation that reflects our ideals--ideals that we believe will lead to the betterment of our country

We must advocate for the creation of specific laws that represent the ideals of our movement and for this reason I propose the creation of the “African American Protection Act”.

African American Protection Act (AAPA) Written by: Kai Stone Koerber

The 9 points of the AAPA:

1. Officers may not approach unarmed suspects (suspects with no weapons in their hands) with weapons drawn.

2. Ban racial profiling by ending: stop-and-frisk, consent searches, pretext stops. (Examples: ​NYC Racial Profiling Ban​, ​NYC stop-and-frisk reform​, ​Rhode Island Consent Search Ban​)

3. Officers that are guilty of having used life-endangering excessive force against apprehended suspects are to be suspended from the police force at the discretion of the public and charged with the crimes that correspond to their actions.

4. Officers must go through mental health counseling, de-escalation training, diversity /anti-bias training, and mental state management training. The reason being that many officers suffer from PTSD and as such are more prone to police brutality. ​PTSD and Police Brutality

5. All police departments will be audited by a federal agency or organization for: biased patrolling, high fine ticketing in impoverished areas and practices that lead to minor offenses becoming bench warrants or jailable offenses. Police departments will, as a result of their audits, begin to receive ratings in various categories including: community interactions, racial bias, and unfair ticketing.

6. All police departments with low ratings will see a decrease in their funding going forward, until their ratings are indicative of optimal public service.

7. All officers on or off duty must NOT demonstrate racial bias, hatred for ethnic minorities, be members of terrorist organizations like the KKK, or practice, participate in, or have a history of harming, insulting, harassing, or targeting minority populations in their policing career. 

8. This act would create the “Committee on African American Protection”, a committee that reviews instances of police violence against African Americans and minorities and determines whether or not a police encounter is demonstrative of racial bias. The majority of this committee would be chaired by Black/minority members of Congress.

9. Police officers must upload body-camera and dashboard camera footage each day into a national database for analysis-- The analysis process incorporates the use of machine learning technology (artificial intelligence softwares like computer vision and natural language processing) to analyze the audio and video for things that are indicative of excessive force, unreturned gunfire, racial slurs made by the officer, and phrases from the suspect that indicate duress or harm. If a video is flagged for any of the aforementioned practices then said video will be reviewed by the Committee on African American Protection. ​

The “African American Protection Act” is our template for change. We must march peacefully upon the cities of every state, we must petition our lawmakers to support our call for police reform, and we must vote ONLY for politicians that support police reforms such as the “African American Protection Act” and the​ ​Ending Qualified Immunity Act ​ (​an act that would allow officers who violate civil rights to be sued). We must vote at the municipal, state, and federal levels.

“History will judge us on our actions: how we responded to this pandemic, not COVID, but racism. This movement is one that has never stopped, whether it was Harriet rescuing blacks from slavery to freedom, or black lives matter organizers who’s focus is calling out the injustices of this country, the movement has never stopped. We must now move this conversation to the table, removing those who are wasting a seat, and replacing them with people who know what it means to eat and come back and feed the streets.” -​ Member of Florida House of  Representatives--​ Shevrin Jones

"Racial profiling needs to end. Too many innocent black men are being targeted because they “fit the profile”. When I was an officer, this was something that we had to do. I never followed that rule though.I knew in my heart that it was wrong. There were so many times where we would see a group of young black men and officers I was with would want to approach them because they had to either be selling drugs or using drugs. I would tell them we are not doing that because we have zero reason to believe that they are doing something wrong.

As a father of two boys, I always tell them to be careful and I have explained to them the realities of being black. I have been a victim of racial profiling numerous times. Every time I would ask what was the reason I was pulled over the officer would say we are just checking cars in the area. It's hard as a parent not to worry. You never want to get that phone call one day. It is sad that we have to teach our children, in this day and age, what to do if they get stopped by the police.

Putting an end to racial profiling will help put an end to the senseless deaths of black men across this country by police. As law enforcement, there needs to be a greater push for community involvement throughout this country. Let the black communities know and feel that we are there for them."---Retired Sergeant. NYPD, Elliot Rodriguez

"We must use this moment to bring about bold transformation. George Floyd’s horrific murder cannot be in vain. Ending police brutality in communities of color will only come when we unite the passion and ideas of our young leaders, with the commitment and wisdom of those who have trekked down the long trail of justice. Change is hard even in the best circumstances, but the possibilities are endless when we work together for good. " --Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz (D-NY)

“I am so proud of Kai Koerber, my former intern, for his remarkable activism. He has been a great voice in Parkland on behalf of gun safety and now he is working to end police violence against African Americans. I am thrilled so much of his plan is encompassed in the Justice in Policing Act that was just introduced in the House of Representatives. We look forward to hearing Kai’s voice from across the table as we make significant changes in law enforcement in America to end systemic racism in our policing.”--Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL)