Dear Next President,

Imagine someone in your family getting killed by police. You would hurt, you would grieve, and you would want justice for your family. Many families do go through situations as sad as these. They’re not able to have justice for their loved ones and it and it angers and saddens them simultaneously. With police brutality occurring, people don’t feel safe. Especially those of color. Instances of police brutality usually involve people or a single person of color. This issue needs to be addressed by you, so people of color can start feeling equal and safe.

According to Mapping Police Violence, “The police have killed at least 1,152 people in the United States, from january 1 - December 15 of 2015.” That comes out to roughly 96 people a month. That is tragic. Also according to Mapping Police Violence, People of color are three times more likely to be killed by police than Those with lighter colored skin. I believe that this is sad, they are judging a book by its cover and that is never right to do. According to TheGuardian.com, In the first 24 days of 2015, U.S police fatally shot more people, the number being 59, than police in England and Wales combined over the last 24 years, that number being 55. The United States police are more quick to pull the trigger rather than act civil but cautious. The families of the victims of police brutality are the most affected by this issue, but at the same time so are the communities. They live in fear that situations like these could happen again and that they might be next. Not having justice for those victim of police brutality, America has somewhat divided. We are not as united as we should be. We as Americans put up a front as though we are united and that we stand together, but in reality that is not the case. This needs to be addressed and changed, because if not this issue might become an epidemic, that will separate this country even more and that would be something I don’t think that this country would ever really recover from.

People have campaigned against police brutality and the killing of innocent people. Some even organized the Black Lives Matter Movement, Which campaigns and speaks out against violence and racism toward black people. One thing that should done to avoid police brutality is, before hiring police officers, the departments should run thorough background checks and put potential police officers through series of tests to see what they would do in certain situations. Please hear the begging and crying of families in America who’s loved ones have fallen victim to police brutality. Create a law that requires All police departments to run thorough background checks on all employees and future employees. Please help the families of police brutality victims have justice for their beloved relatives.