Dear Future President,

Police shootings are a rising issue in America. Not only Black lives are at risk but also Police lives. Police lives are in great risk due to being targeted by people affected by this issue. This issue has disrupted our communities and left homes feeling empty. We, as humans, need to fix this issue and keep our communities and families safe.

The wrongful killings of these people have become to be a great issue across the United States. I believe these senseless murders take place due to people overreacting in some cases, including the riots that have led to the deaths of Policemen. In other cases, some officers do use excessive force and should, and most likely will, be reprimanded. Many people believe that cops target blacks, but, “Blacks are shown more likely to kill a cop than to be killed by one” says author, Matt Palumbo. This shows the killings of people in the law enforcement is senseless, it also says something about this nation. The Washington Post says that 50% of victims of police shootings are white, whereas 26% are black. Many people believe that police only target and kill blacks and this shows that that statement is not true. The 26% that were killed were either found to be holding a weapon or threatening the officer, which undoubtedly gives the officer all the right to use deadly physical force. Communities are disrupted and destroyed due to the riots that take place because of these deaths. Officers lives are taken because of this issue; the people that protect and serve our country are being killed off for doing their job. The number of officers being killed in the line of duty has risen greatly over this year. There has been a 58% increase over the last year, says the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. This problem needs to be solved before anymore lives are taken whether that be from innocent blacks or policemen just doing their job.

There are many things that you could do to help our country in this time of carnage. As a student in a Criminal Justice class, it hurts me to hear about all of the deaths that have taken place due to this issue. I have many fellow classmates that are going to become police officers; if this issue continues, they may be killed in the line of duty for a senseless reason. The first thing we, as a nation, could do is to make body cameras mandatory. Body cameras have saved many lives and have undone wrongs that were made. Cambridge University did a study that showed complaints against officers fell 93% due to them wearing a body camera. Another way this problem can be lessened, if not fixed altogether, is to create requirements in training. One requirement should be more training in shoot/no shoot drills at the police academies. Another requirement should be more training in the use of verbal commands, such as putting trainees in harsh situations where they are forced to use verbal commands instead of force. These changes will help save the lives of many citizens and law enforcement officers. I believe these minor changes would create a big impact and help the communities and protectors of our nation.

Sincerely,

Gabriella H.