(AFL-CIO Now) Coalition Urges Police Changes Following Ferguson Shooting

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http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Political-Action-Legislation/Coalition-Urges-Police-Changes-Following-Ferguson-Shooting

"AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined a diverse group of organizations and leaders from all walks of life in signing on to a letter to President Barack Obama calling for real solutions after the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

“As the nation’s largest labor federation,” said Trumka, “the AFL-CIO believes that our nation must address issues of racial injustice in order to realize economic prosperity for all.”

Michael Brown, the coalition points out:

"Is only the latest in a long list of black men and boys who have died under eerily similar circumstances. Investigations into the Ferguson shooting are ongoing, and many of the specific facts remain unclear for now. However, the pattern is too obvious to be a coincidence and too frequent to be a mistake. From policing to adjudication and incarceration, it is time for the country to counter the effects of systemic racial bias, which impairs the perceptions, judgment and behavior of too many of our law enforcement personnel and obstructs the ability of our police departments and criminal justice institutions to protect and serve all communities in a fair and just manner."

The letter calls on the Obama administration to address what it calls “systematic racial bias” and the “militarization of police departments around the country.”

The letter is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/ad/public/static/letter/index.html
Please sign the petition: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50748/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14713

[yallerdawg]

1. Signed and sent.

Some criminals may be heavily armed, but today police have to act as if we are all heavily armed, since that's the way we want it.

The police shouldn't be our enemy.

The police shouldn't consider the citizens who hire them and pay their wages to be their enemy.

And then you look at the disproportionate racial disparities in policing and justice. There is no justification or rationale to explain this other than racism.

[Starry Messenger]

2. Thank you yallerdawg.

The idea of "Serve and protect" has been removed.

The hiring practices for police forces are often racist as well. The whole system is designed to enforce terror on Black communities.

[SamKnause]

3. Signed and sent.

K&R

[Starry Messenger]

4. Thank you Sam!

[SamKnause]

5. You are most welcome.

[Vincardog]

6. Signed Send K & R off to the Greatest

[Starry Messenger]

7. Thank you, Thank you Vincardog!