Our plea stems from personal exposure to the ongoing police brutality and misconduct experienced across vulnerable communities. The tragic instances such as the horrifying murder of George Floyd and many others that remain nameless, reflect a growing problem in need of immediate reform. Despite the fact that the issue gains international attention, insufficient measures are being taken to ensure justice for the victims, especially those from the Black community where the vast majority of cases are thrown aside with flippant excuses.

The Virginia Police Department holds a responsibility to place mechanisms of accountability for their officers to prevent this unwarranted violence. Therefore, we urge the department to establish an independent Department of Police Misconduct to increase scrutiny and transparency of police activities. This department would be entrusted with the review and investigation of any misconduct, ensuring that every case is treated with the dignity and fairness it deserves.

According to the National Police Misconduct Reporting Project, 99.8% of complaints about officers' use of excessive force do not result in any officer being charged with a crime. This alarming figure could be drastically reduced with the implementation of departments specially designed to hold officers accountable.

 No matter how hard the people protest, the same responses are always given "Why can’t they just follow directions?" "They shouldn’t have resisted" and "You shouldn't have provoked them/ran away". "Stop resisting" didn't work for 17-year-old Donta Dawson, who put his hands up as instructed, only to be shot by officers Christopher DiPasquale and Kirk Dodd for “sudden movements.” A lack of resistance didn't work for Levar Jones, who was shot for reaching for his driver’s license after South Carolina State Trooper Sean Groubert asked him for his driver’s license. "Don't provoke them" won't work if Tamir Rice’s toy gun was a weapon. Stephon Clark’s cell phone was also weapon. So was Jason Harrison’s screwdriver, Andrew Brown Jr’s car, Sandra Bland’s attitude and Korryn Gaines’ son, who he wanted to move away from the encounter, as he was a five year old. Not that Gaines succeeded, as he was shot, and his son had to undergo plastic surgery on his arm due to also getting shot. This doesn't even come close to all the examples of Police brutality that is just ignored no matter what.

What I'm proposing isn't to arrest the police officers who made these actions, as I know that doing this won't stop the actual problem. What this petition is for is to propose a modified George Floyd policing act bill, to hold the police more accountable for their actions, and make it so that those who do report things to the police are listened to, and kept safe from retaliation.  The proposed bill that I modified is as follows:

This bill addresses a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability. It increases accountability for law enforcement misconduct, restricts the use of certain policing practices, enhances transparency and data collection, and establishes best practices and training requirements.

The bill enhances existing enforcement mechanisms to remedy violations by law enforcement. Among other things, it does the following:

lowers the criminal intent standard—from willful to knowing or reckless—to convict a law enforcement officer for misconduct in a federal prosecution,
limits qualified immunity as a defense to liability in a private civil action against a law enforcement officer, and
grants administrative subpoena power to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in pattern-or-practice investigations.
It establishes a framework to prevent and remedy racial profiling by law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels. It also prohibits the unnecessary use of force and restricts the use of no-knock warrants, chokeholds, and carotid holds.

The bill creates a national registry—the National Police Misconduct Registry—to compile data on complaints and records of police misconduct. It also establishes new reporting requirements, including on the use of force, officer misconduct, and routine policing practices (e.g., stops and searches). Police officers that obtain over 3 serious complaints must attend a disciplinary hearing, with the minimum being a probation for 3 weeks, to being terminated from the police department. If one obtains a total of 8 complaints that are serious and provable, they must be terminated. 

Body camera footage is required to always be visible and non-corrupted, and if one has no body camera footage during a severe situation of accused assault or murder, it is seen as grossly negligent and is grounds for termination

If a person is being attacked by a police officer without reason, or is facing prohibited excessive force (as shown previously above) They have the ability to protect themselves if their life is being severely threatened. This prohibits police officers to accuse victims of Police brutality of assault during court or disciplinary hearings.

Finally, it directs DOJ to create uniform accreditation standards for law enforcement agencies and requires law enforcement officers to complete training on racial profiling, implicit bias, and the duty to intervene when another officer uses excessive force.

By signing this petition, you are advocating for Justice, transparency, and integrity within our police department. Your signature gives voice to the voiceless, ensuring that every case of misconduct receives the scrutiny it deserves. It's time to demand change and ensure no more lives are lost to the unchecked actions of those meant to protect us. From the bottom of my heart I beg of you, please sign this petition.