My name is Travis Washington. I received my M. A, degree in Higher Education and Administration from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I have been politically involved, from registering people to vote, to working with U.S Senate and House of Representatives 

We know how so many people of cultural minorities constantly fear leaving their household. This fear in our lives far too often comes from individuals working in public safety who harm people. Every single week vulnerable human being shot by the police. This has increased the trauma and fear that has made people of color scared to leave their homes. 

We need legislation now that prohibits police officers from shooting unarmed citizens. If there isn’t a weapon found after someone has been shot (therefore, unarmed) by a police officer, then I propose that the officer should receive a mandatory 15-year prison sentence.

Additionally:

Police officers found guilty of planting drugs or weapons on individuals should face a mandatory 10-year sentence.

Officers who witness such actions and fail to report them should be subject to a mandatory 12-year sentence.

We have seen over and over police officers get off, even with videotape footage of citizens having been shot by police officers. This is a new form of lynching. I am pleading with you to propose a bill that protects people who have every right to feel threatened by law enforcement. We always say we need more training for those involved in public safety, and there are increasing policies and laws that mandate that police officers have “body cameras” on them. Those measures do not address the whole problem, not when the individual officers who shoot unarmed victims aren’t punished.

As a rider to this proposed bill, I also urge the restoration and revision of Section 4 and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Voter suppression continues to disenfranchise Black and Latino communities. Reinstating this section would empower the Department of Justice to oversee and regulate jurisdictions with a history of discriminatory practices

Senator, we are in a crisis where relationships between people of color and police officers are deteriorating beyond the critical level. In order to build any sort of positive relationships again, we need laws to keep a balance in the lives of all the public. I might even suggest this as a title for this proposed legislation: the Hands UP ACT.

I will be emailing this to all of your colleagues in the U. S. Senate, members of Congress, State Governors. Once this petition receives enough attention. My goal is to speak before the House of Representatives or the United Nations during a committee hearing to bring attention to this policy. 

Thank You !!