I’m alarmed by what came out of North Carolina, and honestly, I do not believe for one second that this is only happening in one place. When I hear about officers treating arrests like a game and moving with prejudice, it makes my stomach turn. You are supposed to protect and serve people, not carry dangerous bias into every stop, every call, and every decision. If somebody is going to wear a badge and carry a gun, we should know they are not bringing hate, discrimination, or reckless assumptions into the field.

This affects all of us, but especially communities of color who already live with the fear that one bad assumption can change their life forever. When departments fail to screen for prejudice in a serious way, they put entire communities at risk. People cannot trust law enforcement if officers are allowed to hit the streets with dangerous beliefs and unchecked discrimination. That is not public safety. That is a system failing the people it claims to serve.

That is why I am calling for mandatory standardized bias and discrimination testing for every police recruit before they are allowed to work in the field. Psychological testing alone is clearly not enough if it does not seriously measure prejudice, unnecessary aggression, and discriminatory decision-making. State leaders should require every police department to use a real screening protocol that is built to catch these risks before someone gets a badge, a weapon, and power over other people’s lives.

We cannot keep acting shocked after the damage is already done. We need a system that prevents this, not one that excuses it later. If you believe officers should be screened for dangerous prejudice before they patrol our communities, please sign and share this petition.