While I was under indictment and out on bail, my attorney suggested I should go to law school when my criminal case concluded. Initially, I thought he was joking. He kept telling me that the system needs people like me as attorneys. After thinking about his statement and seeing abuse of authority in policing while working in law enforcement and experiencing some racially discriminatory treatment from the criminal justice system as a defendant, I acted on his suggestion and began earning my undergraduate degree in March, 2012.
In August 2013, all charges against me were dropped. I graduated in September of 2013 with a degree in social sciences. I begin studying for the LSAT. When my score came back, I was offered sizeable scholarships to attend two schools. I chose UDC School of Law because of its legacy for public interest and social justice. So, my coming to law school was anything but logical. I like to say it was miraculously orchestrated.
I'll say! What are you aiming for with the NAAPB?
NAAPB is aiming to reform the criminal justice system by creating solutions that address the concerns and needs of Americans regarding our interaction with our justice system. We have a website that is under development whose primary function will be to serve as a clearinghouse to connect victims of police brutality with service providers for legal advice, spiritual and psychological counseling with our web-based incident reporting system. As it stands now in America, victims of a police brutality incident must call the police after an incident and this leaves the victim at the mercy of the police department. NAAPB will partner with reputable legal, spiritual, and counseling organizations that have the capacity and experience to help victims of brutality.
In addition to that web-based function, NAAPB seeks to organize and empower communities to hold their law enforcement and elected officials accountable through the electoral process. NAAPB will craft model legislation and policy suggestions for legislators and law enforcement officials to consider and adopt. These policies and initiatives are designed to reduce incidents of police brutality, eliminate institutional racism, and increase transparency and objectivity within the system. Our members and affiliates will have a standard to hold officials accountable when it comes to criminal justice in America. Right now, our community and civil rights organizations are all saying the system needs reform. NAAPB will help make that change.
An ambitious agenda, indeed. Sounds great! Is it your hope to get other schools and institutions involved? Has anyone shown an interest beyond UDC so far?
We're just beginning. Our organization was incorporated in early December and we haven't received any outside commitments. I was invited to participate in a live interview with David Swanson of Talk Nation Radio. I've personally reached out to the President of the National Bar Association and a representative from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Once we are finished with the online portion of our incident report system, the plan is to make a more defined effort to partner with many established civil and human rights organizations and service providers and then establish our presence in other locations including college campuses.
David Swanson is definitely good people. Small world: I interviewed him recently for OpEdNews [David Swanson: "War is So 2014!" 1.3.2015] . Anything you'd like to add before we wrap this up?
I hope that readers understand that police brutality is the general term that encompasses some acts of a criminal nature perpetrated by police officers. It ranges from intimidation (under color of law) to excessive force, domestic violence of spouses, sexual assault, and unjustified killings. Until we reform the system and the laws that allow much of the unchecked discretionary powers of officers, prosecutors and judges, we will experience crimes by police and institutionalized racism within our system of justice. The consciousness of America has been pricked because the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner were widely covered by national media. However, the harsh reality is there are thousands of victims of police brutality across this country who have little chance of having their situation remedied or anyone to help them. NAAPB will be their link to that much needed help.
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