I don't live in a big city or near any protests, but I feel compelled to do more in my own community. Tomorrow I'm going to call my local police dept. and ask what measures they are taking to combat misconduct and if they plan to make their internal records publicly available

In doing my own research yesterday, I found out that police organizations are under no obligation to disclose their misconduct records to the public. This is a huge problem. https://www.fastcompany.com/90360008/these-citizen-built-websites-are-helping-expose-police-misconduct

I looked at my local police dept.'s website. On their Office of Professional Standards page at the very bottom was a link to the complaints filed and their outcomes. I clicked it-- it's a 3 page PDF that hasn't been updated since 2017. No records available from previous years.

These are the people that we put in charge to enforce our laws. But when they break the law, they have complete protection. We need to hold them accountable.

Think about it! Any arrests, criminal charges, even traffic tickets are on your public record that anyone can access. It could impact your ability to find housing, jobs, apply for certain licenses, etc. But if a cop breaks the law? They keep their job, the public never finds out.

The police swear an oath to uphold the law and protect their community. When they violate the public's trust by abusing their power, we need to what steps the dept. is taking to hold themselves accountable.

Police brutality isn't caused by a few "bad apples". It thrives in a culture of silence that protects abusive cops from consequences.

The officer who murdered #GeorgeFloyd had EIGHTEEN complaints on his record. He was involved in 3 shootings, one was fatal. This was a pattern of behavior that went unchecked. This was encouraged.

Maybe your community doesn't have a problem with police misconduct, but it shouldn't take a tragedy for people to realize what needs to change. Do some research on your local police dept, spread the word & demand transparency.