Militarized anything is the beginning of the End of our Republic! The very word "Military" is a term of either enlisted or drafted men and women OR professional military i.e. West Point, Annapolis, etc. that are specifically trained for Wars. Keep that in mind & then imagine people in uniform w/weapons marching on our streets, paths, lanes, etc in full battle gear! Got it? Keep looking at that and then Feel the FEELINGS that come w/that picture as you keep making it more real - the sounds of gunfire & ? small bombs?, flamethrowers, tear gas, REALLY? Can you Really get into that scenario and feel SAFER and OKAY with that on ANY of our American streets in ANY of our Cities and States? Because if you CAN truly imagine that, you are no longer looking at or Living in America, Land of the Free & Home of the Brave! We've heard of Police States, but America MILITARIZED? I suggest every one who thinks this a terrific idea Read the United States Constitution written by men who had ESCAPED such conditions in their former countries! and then remember while Reading it, that's why the Founders wrote such a glorious Document, and THIS idea is EXACTLY why the Constitution was Written and Very Specific to which was added our Bill of Rights! 21 Centuries and there are those who want to go backwards in time to oppression, suppression, and the apparently still popular Aggression! INSANITY! ,MADNESS! There's an element in our culture right now that is whittling away at our Freedoms and Rights rather than fighting to uphold them. History has proven that it's a Whole lot easier to hang on to one's Freedoms and Rights than to EVER recover them once lost!
I join in with many Black leaders in this community to call for a demilitarization of our police force and the defunding of resources that should be better spent on other public services.
Militarized police encourages brutality and excessive force. We need to go the other way.
Demilitarized police is essential for a peaceful community. Citizens are not enemy-combatants. Police have a difficult job, dealing with crises, violence, and dishonesty. However most people are peaceful and honest. Police need support to maintain calm judgement, to not become jaded. Upping the military equipment etc increases the sense that the people they serve and protect are not citizens like them, rather enemies.
I am an alum of UVA. I come to UVA with alums who are now lifetime friends - Mike and Ruth Brannon. In fact, I am sitting at my desk, with a beautiful jacket that I bought in the outdoor mall last year - at 100000 villages shop. I don't want to see heavily militarized police when I'm there, it makes me unsettled and I remember that my husband and went there and is passed, Dennis Murphy, was a conscientious objector and worked at UVA hospital as an orderly. It is in his name, that I write to you to have a peaceful town without a highly militarized police force that has gone through a military 'warrior' training.
No militarization of the police force in Charlottesville! Can we not train our police force to befriend neighborhood leaders and citizens so that we are all working together to solve our societal issues. This has to evolve and happen on the local( Charlottesville) level.
Instead, partner with the community and community professionals to address human problems humanely for the safety of everyone.
I support reallocation of funds from the police to other community services to cut down on the people being locked up. I think these people should be assisted in other ways like mental health, housing, job services and many other avenues that lessen the amount of people in jail and committing crimes.
This is a good start.
it is time to demilitarize police departments
Let's fight systemic racism and a build caring community filled with services that support our citizens. Police brutality and excessive force is the gateway to our current criminal injustice system.
Militarized policing is not needed or welcomed in Charlottesville
We need a 21st century police presence that is thoughtfully reformed to better serve and protect our diverse community. To me this means moving away from arbitrary and questionable use of violence, restructuring the appropriate roles and responsibilities of a police presence, and respecting peaceful demonstrations. I see this petition as an important first step in redesigning policing to meet our community's needs and not abuse their rights. It is time for solutions, not procrastination.
As long as its done equitably and peacefully!
Continuing to pit police and the civilians they are intended to serve and protect against one another will be a horrifying and counterproductive reality, and the only outcome that will result with increasingly militarized police training, weapons, and programs. The system needs to change - both to foster safe, effective, and just career opportunities for police as well as promote safe and just communities in which all people are free to peacefully engage in the processes that impact them, without fear of violent and/or discriminatory reprisal. As a native Virginian who calls the area in and around Charlottesville home, let us be a courageous beacon of hope to the rest of the nation that positive change is possible.
I am not a resident, but I am a teacher in the city.
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