Dear Next President,

Imagine if you lived in a city where police officers are supposed to protect you from harm, but are the causing you harm. People feel as though police officers are abusing their authority and getting away when they shouldn’t. With the percentage of African Americans getting killed by police officers , people are rioting and protesting. This issue must be addressed in the next few years so that people can stop being scared of and defiant toward authority.

194 Black Americans have been killed by police so far this year, at a rate of 4.86 deaths per million. In 2016, several officers have gone to trial but none of them received jail time. 2015 saw the highest number of police officers being charged for deadly, on-duty shootings in a decade but in a year when approximately 1,200 people were killed by police, zero officers were convicted of murder or manslaughter, painting the picture that officers involved in killing another person will not be held accountable for their actions. Everyone is affected by this issue because whether you are a victim of police brutality, a witness or even just heard about it on the news, it’s still the thought of what if it happens to them. Having police officers abuse their authority makes its more difficult for people to want to listen to them . Officers are not being held accountable for their actions.

Law enforcement and elected officials told a presidential task force Tuesday that police need better training to improve community relations and defuse the sorts of deadly, racially charged confrontations that have divided the nation for months. In addition to officers getting better training , no more military equipment, ban racist policing, have body cameras on police officers and obey the fourth amendment .

So Mr or Mrs. President, please listen to all the people, mostly people of color, who want officers to stop abusing their authority. Have the officers get better training , even put body cameras on them, or let them be accountable for their crimes by being convicted of murder.

Sincerely,

D’Avyan Tate