Dear next President,

Police, you probably call them when there is a conflict and rely on them to protect you. Police are suppose to keep the community and the people safe and take dangerous people off the streets. Police are profiling Blacks, and it’s starting to get to the point where they are scared of police. This is a huge problem because we shouldn’t be in fear of the people who are suppose to protect us. If we don’t do something about this, it will only get worst.

According To Matt Femer an author from the Huffington Post, “938 Americans were killed this year by cops.” Also in 97% of these cases no officers were charged with a crime. In many of these police killings there is video evidence showing how the police poorly treat the Blacks. The police are literally threatening and just treating them like nothing. The video also shows that the person being killed is innocent and unarmed. I think the police know they are wrong because they are even yelling at the people recording the video. If you know you are doing something wrong, you don't want someone recording it. Police brutality is leading to protest and to more deaths and even more cop killings. This is seriously getting out of hand.

Police Brutality is causing an increase in racial profiling. According to Edmund Andrews, “5.4 percent of Blacks are searched when pulled over and 3.1 percent a of Whites are searched."  In these searches police found more contraband with Whites than Blacks. This shows that cops are trying to find a reason to throw you in jail or even have a reason to bother you. It's sad that the color of your skin causes the way you have to be treated in life.

Racial profiling is something I experienced in my life. I once was driving and soon as I made eye contact with the police officer, he immediately turned around pulled me over, and I was surrounded by five cop cars. At first I was just shocked, but I know I didn't do anything wrong, and I knew I was just being profiled. Trayvon Martin Is a worldwide example of racial profiling. He was killed by a neighborhood watch for looking like he was armed when all he had was Skittles and an Arizona. Justice was never served; the man who killed him, George Zimmerman, is not in jail for this crime.

Dr. King once said,“Injustice anywhere is a threat everywhere.” Some people believe in life that if something isn’t affecting you in a negative way, it's not a problem. Why care about it if it's happening to other people? But when it happens to you and you're hurt, you will regret not defending the people being hurt when you had the chance. We have to have a voice in conflicts that don't involve us because we can eventually be affected and then no one can defend you. August 9th an unarmed Black teenager was shot and killed by a police officer. This happened in Ferguson,Missouri; there was a huge protest and a lot of people gave their opinions about the situation. The protest led to a lot of worldwide attention, and that's the only way justice will be served -  if everyone pays attention to these problems. Many of these people were brave enough to have a voice.

The opposing side to cop killings is that police have the rights to protect themselves. Police do have that right and if their life is endangered, they should protect themselves. There weren't a lot of situations when a police officer was truly endangered of their life, so I don't see why they shoot. But with all this police brutality, people are starting to go after cops since justice isn't served. Crime on crime is not gonna solve these problems; it's just going to get worst if it's a war with the cops. We should not be in shootouts with cops and this is why justice needs to be served! Of 35 on duty cops who died this year 17 were killed by gunfire according to Officer Down Memorial Page.

I can't physically make anyone fight and be a voice in police brutality. It's sickening to see innocent people be killed, especially teens, because they are yet to reach their full potential in life. Feeling like I can lose my life while being approached by a cop is a feeling I don't want to feel for the rest of my life.

Respectfully,

JJ

Work Cited

Femer,Matt. “Here’s How Many Cops Got Convicted Of Murder Last Year For On-Duty Shootings”. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/police-shooting-convictions_us_5695968ce4b086bc1cd5d0da

Andrews, Edmund. Stanford researchers develop new statistical test that shows racial profiling in police traffic stops”

http://news.stanford.edu/2016/06/28/stanford-researchers-develop-new-statistical-test-shows-racial-profiling-police-traffic-stops/

”http://archive.jsonline.com/news/opinion/king-was-right-injustice-anywhere-is-a-threat-to-justice-Wycliff,Don.”King was right: 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”everywhere-b99424676z1-288886581.html

MintPressNewsDesk. “Police Are Getting Shot More In 2016, And It’s White Men Pulling The Trigger”

http://www.mintpressnews.com/police-getting-shot-2016-white-men-pulling-trigger/216339/