Welcome, everyone. I am glad to see such a positive turnout for this community gathering to discuss police brutality in so many communities not only within our state, but across our nation. As Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” The longer we allow these senseless tragedies to continue, the more innocent lives will be either taken or drastically effected, meaning more officers slipping through the system receiving no punishment for their reckless actions. Too often we find ourselves being scared of law enforcement rather than feeling protected; this is the issue we are going to address today. A few steps we will be discussing involve community outreach by police departments, required body cams with audio and video capabilities, as well as pushing for disciplinary action within departments when an officer commits an offense. These efforts combined will create a more positive environment for communities and their officers. Personally, I have experienced fear within my own city when it comes to law enforcement …show more content…
We need to be sure we are educated on these issues before taking our next steps: outreach, a push for body cams in our city, and external investigators rather than internal. We need to recognize these issues effect African-Americans more so than any other ethnicity or race in America. We need to recognize that these topics are extremely sensitive to people in our communities. While planning this reform, keep these points in the back of your mind, otherwise our mission will fail due to ignorance. Together we can change how law enforcement and civilians interact, and ultimately end the normalization of police misconduct in America. Thank you all for attending, together we will make a