Call to Action
We are engaged in a long-term struggle to improve the lives and survival chances of young black men. This will require changes in the hearts and minds of policy makers in this country, and in the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. On this page, we will provide links to various campaigns, petitions, legislative initiatives, and others efforts to education. Please join us as you are able.
Please note that we will by lobbying on Capitol Hill on Friday, May 8 -- the day before our historic inaugural Million Moms March for Justice. Click here for some lobbying tips, and don't forget to make your appointments now to assure a place on your legislators' schedules.
Use this link to identify your US congressional representative: Find my US representative
To contact your federal representatives, in reference to particular legislation, or just to express the need for changes in the ways that we are policed:
How to Contact Your U.S. Senator
Senators' Email Addresses
How to Contact Your U.S. Representative
Emails can be found on the individual members' websites. See link above -- Find my US representative.
Capitol Switchboard
Senators (202) 224-3121
Representatives (202) 225-3121
Petitions
- JUSTICE FOR DONTRE: DEMAND FEDERAL CHARGES! TO: ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, U.S. ATTORNEY JAMES L. SANTELLE
- President Obama: End discriminatory, violent policing and its unjust consequences
- We have a key opportunity to transform discriminatory and violent policing nationwide
- ACLU: Our Communities Are Not Warzones
Our Demands
As an overarching demand, we ask that the 63 Recommendations of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing Interim Report be implemented immediately, knowing (and acknowledging) that our demands, developed in conversation with our moms and organizers, are probably all encompassed in some way.
1. We call on the office of US Attorney General Loretta Lynch to establish and maintain a public directory of known officer-involved deaths within the last five years, including those deaths that occurred during law enforcement encounters and while individuals were in custody. We acknowledge that imperfect records have been kept in the past, but ask that every effort be made to amend the existing records to include previously unreported incidents. Going forward, it should be a requirement that all state and local law enforcement agencies report officer-involved shootings and instances of the use of excessive force.2. We demand that the Department of Justice review all officer-involved deaths, and investigate the patterns and practices of all those local police departments against which there is more than one complaint.
3. We ask that these cases be scrutinized for Civil Rights violations, and that the standard for determination of bias be reformed to be more inclusive of cases that don't pass the "sniff test."
4. We demand that the Federal government discontinue the supply of military weaponry and equipment to local law enforcement agencies under the 1033 program.
5. We call for the establishment of Civilian Oversight Committees for all local police departments, as a condition of federal aid. COC's must have all necessary powers, including subpoena power, to ensure their effective performance.
6. We call for the mandating of meaningfully independent investigation and prosecution of all officer-involved deaths. This would preclude dependence on locally collected information, inclusion of investigators with ties to the local department, and charging decisions by local prosecutors dependent on the local police department for testimony in other cases. Additionally, we call for adjustments in Law Enforcement Bill of Rights which result in a double standard for police suspected of wrongdoing, as opposed to civilians accused of a crime.
7. We ask that officers who are charged and convicted of wrongdoing involving death or serious injury to a civilian be sentenced proportionately, according to published guidelines, and similarly to others whose wrongful actions result in death or serious injury.
8. We demand that all law enforcement officers wear body cameras that cannot be turned on or off by the individual police officer. The cameras should automatically be turned on whenever an officer is on duty. Additionally, we ask that dash cameras be installed in all police vehicles, and that their use be effectively regulated to ensure the recording of all police-civilian encounters which occur within their range.
9. Use of a police officer's service weapon must always be a last resort. Any officer who has the ability to retreat to a safe distance from an aggressive suspect and take the individual into custody alive must do so. This has to be standard protocol, prior to lethal force. Standards should be developed and enforced to require graduated methods of control and management of potentially aggressive encounters with civilians, using all available technology and instruments to apply the minimal necessary force in all situations.
10. We demand changes in the selection, training, assignment, and evaluation of police officers.
- All potential candidates for the police academy should be required to undergo psychological and character evaluations. Any potential police officer who exhibits racism, severe superiority complex, fear of other races, misogyny, psychopathic behavior or thoughts must be disqualified from entering the police academy. Screening must be intense and intended to weed out individuals who will intentionally mistreat or discriminate against members of any vulnerable community (including communities of color); behave dishonestly; engage in illegal behavior; or act out of fear.
- The amount of training for police officers needs to increase. Police officers are given a great deal of tactical training. However, they are given very little training on communication. A number of situations could be avoided based upon the approach of the police officer. Police officers must be given general communication training in the police academy and additional communication training when they begin at or transfer to a new precinct. They must be instructed in the best practices for dealing and communicating with the communities they serve. The training for communication should be created and taught by an expert in race and/or class relations.
- All officers should be trained in de-escalation procedures, and should be expected to demonstrate adherence to principles of de-escalation in situations involving aggression or potentially aggressive behavior by civilians.
- Trainees and officers must undergo a minimum of biannual diversity training and psychological evaluation.
- Psychological evaluation is needed for officers immediately following any critical incidenct in which they are involved.
- Officers involved in civilian deaths, whose actions are shown to be noncompliant with department policies and procedures, training, and civil rights laws should be summarily fired, and not eligible for employment in any law enforcement capacity.
12. If a police officer is witness to or obtains information that a fellow police officer has violated the law and/or participated in behavior in violation of the Constitutional protections afforded to all, that witness should be required to report said violation and/or place the violating officer under arrest. Failure to do so must result in charges of aiding and abetting.
13. We ask that the federal government act to mandate the establishment of specialized mental health response teams, all members of whom volunteer for and receive specialized critical incident training (CIT), along with ongoing in-service trainings. These teams should coordinate closely with trained mental health personnel, and act as first responders in instances of difficulty or crisis with mentally ill or emotionally disturbed individuals.
