RESOLUTION RETHINKING THE POLICE

WHEREAS policing techniques have historically been used to victimize people of color, minorities, and certain religions and resulted in disproportionate actions taken against these groups that resulted in bodily harm, financial hardship and too often death, especially in the black and brown communities, and;

WHEREAS the militarization of police departments with equipment and weapons of war; the lack of transparency surrounding police actions with inconsistent use of bodycams and the inconsistent release of those and bystanders’ videos for viewing by the public, the code of silence used to protect fellow police officers (including the questionable results of internal affairs investigations and the power of the police unions), and the suppression and intimidation of the press, as evidenced during the recent protests;  the current application or disregard of laws that provide a level of immunity to police that are not afforded to their victims; have all led to more violence that is disproportionate, hard to control, monitor or reform, and is at a level that is unacceptable to the citizens they are sworn to protect.

WHEREAS the citizens of the United States want changes to police practices so that all citizens can feel secure instead of threatened, that situations that have historically been dealt with by the police can be handled in a proportionate and fair way, that situations that can be handled without police intervention (drug overdoses, mental health breakdowns for examples) are handled by the appropriate resources, that protestors’ constitutional rights are not violated, that the police are held accountable in a transparent and proportionate manner and that policies that escalate and cause bodily damage or death are reduced or eliminated, and;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED Valley Grassroots for Democracy supports reforming policing practices by: de-militarizing the police force, banning choke-holds, requiring police to de-escalate, requiring a warning before shooting, exhausting all other means before shooting, requiring other police to intervene in violent situations, banning shooting at moving vehicles, limiting the use of force against citizens, ending “qualified immunity” and instead requiring justification of actions and investigating violent incidents  immediately and transparently by an independent body and not the police or District Attorney, and making that information on the police available to the citizens including body camera footage and employment records within two weeks, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to Mayor Eric Garcetti, President of Los Angeles City Council Nury Martinez, LA County Board of Supervisors, Police Chief Michel Moore, Sheriff Alex Villanueva, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, and members of the House of Representatives Brad Sherman, Tony Cardenas, and Adam Schiff.

June 20, 2020

Written by Steve Krantz, Board Member

Adrienne Burk, Past President

Cindy Kalman, President

Valley Grassroots for Democracy