Destinee Richmond

100 East Queen Street

Hampton, VA 23668
December 1, 2015
Kevin Davis
Police Commissioner
Baltimore Police Department
242 W. 29th St.
Baltimore, MD 21211-2908
Dear Commissioner Davis:
Police officers are essential to the stability in a community. Here to protect and serve is
a motto they have always gone by. My mother tells me stories of times where she would
receive friendly gestures from police officers. She could count on a neighborhood officer
to help her with her groceries when my brother and I were little or they would help her
shovel her car out of the snow. Friendly actions such as these let people know that they
could call on police men and women whenever without the feeling of danger or fear in
their hearts. Citizens are supposed to be able to trust these enforcers of the law. But in
todays society, how are you supposed to trust someone who may take your life away
from you because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time or you asked too many
questions or you looked like the enemy. These events happen daily without any
consequences to the police force. I do not entirely blame the officers for their behavior
and responses. The training they are receiving is not beneficial for them to know how to
deal with issues at a moments notice; and this is a lot of the reason why America has so
many fatalities at the hands of police officers. It is highly suggested that police forces
across America implement more extensive training for our future officers to gain
confidence in themselves and from citizens. I will direct this letters attention to the city
of Baltimore, Maryland.
What are the requirements to become a police officer? According to baltimorepolice.org
under the Qualifications page, there are minimal requirements for a trainee to possess
which include the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, have a high school diploma or
equivalent, possess a drivers license, no felony or serious misdemeanor convictions, be
at least 20 years and 9 months, no DUI in the last 5 years, and no more than 2 current
points on their drivers license. These requirements simply suggest that a trainee can be
fresh out of high school with no serious charges and can receive a gun and badge then be
called an officer. I view these obligations as being taken too lightly and creating
underqualified trainees. Officer Madden is a Baltimore police officer whos been on the
job for over 20 years and says training only took 6 months; I had to pass a test and a
physical then I was out on the street with my uniform, badge and gun.

There have been multiple instances, particularly in the city of Baltimore, where police
brutality is prevalent. According to Colarossi, 873 people were killed so far by police in
2015. In the month of September alone, 99 people were killed. In Reisterstown, MD, a
part of Baltimore County, MD, Keith McLeod was fatally shot by officers because he
seemed to reach for a handgun. It was later confirmed that there were no weapons at the
scene.
I agree that there are many underlying issues besides proper training such as racism or
the feeling of control; however training them to know pulling out your gun is a last
resort would result in a significant decrease in fatalities while eliminating the possibility
of an officer saying I acted in self-defense and would open up investigation into the
possibility of crooked cops.
People say that police brutality is a serious issue today. A way for all of us to combat
police brutality is to encourage our police departments to enforced strict qualifications
to apply to the police force and then enact rigorous first-time training as well as monthly
training to ensure our cities are only equipped with the best officers available. When
applying to a prestigious school such as Harvard, the qualifications of acceptance would
be nothing shy of excellence. Why should we settle for less in our police force? To
Baltimore police commission Davis, I ask that you respond to these request with swift
action so our police officers can protect and serve as they should.
Sincerely,
Destinee Richmond

Works Cited
Colarossi, Jess. "The Worst Cases of Police Brutality In September." ThinkProgress RSS.
N.p., 01 Oct. 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.
Madden, Frank. Personal interview. 27 November 2014.
"Qualifications." Www.baltimorepolice.org. N.p., 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015