Each One Reach One essay competition provided our nations’ youth an opportunity to sound off regarding how they feel about police brutality and what they would do to stop it if they were the Police Commissioner or District Attorney. Below are direct quotes from the essays written by the youth. Take a look at what our youth are saying:
13 year old from Spotsylvania, Virginia
“If I was a police commissioner trying to limit police brutality I would ban racist policing, include the police in their communities, and have mandatory body cameras. Training a police to be a member of the community instead of being known as an armed danger may increase the trust between the community and the police department. A life of a parent or sibling that has been taken away could have been prevented if the police department spent more money on teaching officers about dealing with a crisis involving the mentally ill, different cultures, LGBTQ, and etc.”
15 year old from Columbia, South Carolina
“Due to the sad events going on today it’s not just about teaching officers how to arrest and detain people properly it’s also important to show them how to lead with character. Whether many believe it or not it’s little things like the way you speak to a person that can change the course that leads to these deadly situations. What I think would ease tensions in communities is having police officers more involved in the community. So many lives could be saved by just giving these people a chance to talk and get to know each other better. It’s easy to judge somebody by the color of their skin without knowing who they are. Sadly skin color is a lot of the reason that these situations get out of control so fast. I am sure most officers believe being a police officer is a way they give back. While the gesture is appreciated but it is morally sound if you don’t really know who you’re giving back too.”
16 year old from Montevallo, Alabama
“Police Officers should first be educated on how to handle and recognize people with mental impurities and those with disabilities. Not only that but there should be more advocacy for tasing or shooting to injure instead of kill in training. As a district attorney I would recommend we repeal the law of “Qualified Immunity” which is a legal doctrine that shields government officials from being held responsible for “discretionary acts” performed within their official capacity. The law was made to protect the people but how can it protect us when it gives other people permission to hurt us. Not only this but giving the officials this much leeway could lead to their careless actions because they know they are immune to the law. I believe if we repeal this law then officers will think twice before they harm a citizen because then they will have to have a fair trial.”
12 year old from Leesburg, Virginia
“If I were a police commissioner I would make sure these officers had training on how to treat all people with respect. At my school, bullying and drugs have zero tolerance policy; police officers should know that there is a zero tolerance policy for racism and brutality. As a child we are taught that actions have consequences, so if I were district attorney I would make sure the police officer received the consequence they deserve.”
17 year old from Blythewood, South Carolina
“As a police commissioner, I would appoint officers that reside in a particular community to serve that community. By appointing an officer to serve their own community, police brutality is less likely to occur because the officer does not have preconceived notions about the people in their own community. Our current president has taken an underlying racist rhetoric, such as stating he is the “law and order” president and by referring to protesters as “thugs” on twitter. The citizens of America need to decide if this is the leader they want to represent America for another 4 years. Will he be a catalyst for reforms? Or, will he avert change and avoid the issues at hand? Regardless, real change begins in the hearts of individuals. If I were a police commissioner or district attorney, awareness and reform would be the new mission.”
10 year old from Raleigh, North Carolina
“As a police commissioner I would make every officer go through training every year so there mentally and physically ready for the job. If I was commissioner for the Minneapolis police department, the cop who killed George Floyd would be sentenced to life because he heard George say I can’t breathe but the other officers who were also pinning him down would be sentenced to 5 years in prison.”
13 year old from Dundee, Florida
“In the end, I was told that I was supposed to be a strong black man, but I ask myself every day how during a worldly crisis due to racism. I understand that this was for a competition. To me, the essay is a life changer. This essay makes me realize what’s going on in the world and I wrote this for a change in the better.”