The objective of this petition is to not only show support towards implementing a successful police reform in the United States, but also to be informative to the people unaware of the current situation within the criminal justice system. Even though there are many more steps that could be taken beyond those discussed here, they still provide insight on where to start. The following points provide sourced statistics and solutions in the context of police brutality.

Enforce Harsher Consequences for Police Brutality: Derek Chauvin had 7 police brutality complaints against him before he was fired by the Minneapolis Police Department. In addition, it took national protests for there to be a criminal charge against Chauvin after his brutal murder of George Floyd. Chauvin however, only recieved a charge of third-degree murder because prosecuters decided there was not enough evidence to prove intent. Barriers similar to needing to prove intent allows police officers to be excused from their actions which leads to repeat offenses. There needs to be federal legislation stating that any officer with brutality complaints will automatically be expelled from their position and held to the highest extent of the law. Police officers need to follow the law not be held above it.

Push for Rehabilitation over Punishment: Despite making up 5 percent of the world’s population, America holds the most prisoners. Furthermore, it is crucial to note that the United States alone spends 80 billion dollars annually on prisons. Despite this tremendous amount of tax money being spent, inmates struggle with finding housing, steady employment, higher forms of education, and in many states lose the right to vote after being released. This causes there to be repeat offenses and re-incarnation after during the first five years of being released. This raises concerns as to what is the genuine purpose prisons serve for American society. To prevent repeated crime, the federal AND privatized prisons need to provide optimal educational opportunities, vocational training, drug rehabilitation, and counseling. Even though rehabilitation initially costs more than prisons, funding such programs allow ex-convicts to successfully be reintroduced back into society and ultimately decrease crime. Less crime lessens unnecessary police interference in poor neighborhoods, which leads to decreased brutality.

Require Longer, Unbiased Training for Police Academies: On average, Police academy training usually takes 22-27 weeks to complete where a high school diploma tends to be the highest form of education required. This training often falls short as compared to other countries. For example, cadets in Norway are required to go through three years of extensive training and education before becoming police officers. To add to this, there have only been four fatalities caused by Norwegian police between 2002 and 2016. America needs to enforce similar regulations that lengthens the training of police academies so police can handle situations without nonessential violence. In addition, American police need to be trained to prevent the racial profiling that causes black people to be disproportionate victims of police brutality. A short list of many who were failed by the criminal justice because of preventable escalated police brutality: Eric Garner, 43 (selling cigarettes), Tamir Rice, 12 (playing in a park), Ezell Ford, 25 (walking around in neighborhood), Trayvon Martin, 17 (coming back from a gas station, he was killed by George Zimmerman, who was not a officer, but used the stand your ground law), and George Floyd, 46 (going to the grocery store).

If the true purpose of the American Criminal Justice System is to keep communities safe, then the points made above should be easy to instate and seen as obvious. However, the lack of after countless acts of brutality questions the genuine intent of the police. This argument is valid since the courts have historically discriminated against people of color where African Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. This leads to the larger issue for Americans to decide if institutionalized racism has actually improved since the Jim Crow Era or if society has only adapted to make it acceptable to the present day. -- “In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” Angela Y. Davis

(Photo by Tony Webster, https://www.flickr.com/photos/diversey/27866556080