This petition is addressing two issues that I think are of grave urgency and need the attention of our electedofficial’s nationwide.

The first is a concern of the continued militarization of our local and state Law Enforcement agencies. I believe there is a rising concern that our Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) are equipped and trained more like solders and less like peace officers. Furthermore, Law Enforcement Officers respond to the general public as an occupying force and less like keepers of the peace. The LEOs are quickly moving to a shot first mentality, rather than peace through negotiation and rational thinking.

My second concern is the lack of mandated training in the area of anti-racism for local and state Law Enforcement agencies. Currently it is not mandated that neither law enforcement officers nor their agency leadership include continuing education regarding anti-racism training. Thus the result of this lack of much needed training is playing its self out all over the media and in communities around the country.

We’re requesting that you review the funding of local and state Law Enforcement agencies and:

1. Advocate for the defunding of items that will continue to militarize our Law Enforcement agencies and bring an end to the DoD 1033 program.

2. Advocate for Law Enforcement agencies to revise their use of force policies to reflect the use of none lethal force as a priority.

3. Mandate that comprehensive negotiation skills be part of yearly LEOs training for agency accreditation and LEO certification.

4. Mandate that comprehensive anti-racism training be part of a bi-annual requirement for agency accreditation and LEO certification.

We the below signed thank you for your time with this matter. We look forward to seeing how our elected leaders respond to these requests, hence shaping how we the voting citizens will vote for you on in the future.