Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB) is the voice for justice for victims of police brutality and deadly force. We are multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition uniting mothers nationwide to fight for civil rights, police accountability, and policy reform.
MAPB formed to unite mothers who have lost their children to police violence. Every year families lose children and other loved ones to police killings. An alarmingly disproportionate number of African American and Hispanic men killed by policemen are unarmed. In virtually every case, officers that kill unarmed Black and Brown men are never charged with a crime.
We must summon the courage to challenge existing laws and practices that leave our families vulnerable to police brutality and official murder. We must summon the courage to challenge the existing investigations by district attorneys and county prosecutors that result in no indictments, no trials, and no accountability for officers involved in brutalizing and killing civilians. We must summon the courage to challenge our Congressional representatives to recognize police brutality as a gross violation of civil rights and to intervene legislatively as Congress has done in the past, with the enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights and 1965 Voting Rights Acts. We must summon the courage to challenge the President and the Justice Department to intervene in communities where police departments show a pattern of brutality toward citizens; to investigate citizen complaints against local law enforcement agencies; and to stop providing advanced military weapons and equipment that are totally inappropriate for local peace officers.
We must re-design the training and ongoing review of police officers. Officers involved in the use of excessive and deadly force typically show a pattern of abusive behavior and typically have received multiple citizen complaints prior to a major incident. Applicants to police academy need to be screened more rigorously to exclude those with psychological problems or social attitudes (i.e., racial prejudice) that will cause problems in the everyday stresses of police work.
Only when there is trust between local police and citizens can we restore the social contract, protect the rights of the people, and work together to prevent and solve crime in our communities.
Mrs. Collette Flanagan, founder of MAPB, December 2013 city hall press conference addressing Dallas Police Department police brutality. Broadcast on local news CBS Channel 11.
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9630882
“We know that each day we work to keep the community aware and advised on police brutality, is a day we may help to save another life. Please join us in our quest to save lives. Join us as we seek to make our communities more peaceful, more loving, and as sanctuaries of justice for our children.”