As we keep talking about police violence, one policy goal we should keep in mind is evaluating and assessing police unions' power.

A week after George Floyd was killed, the President of the Minneapolis Police Union, Bob Kroll, said in a statement that the four officers responsible for Mr. Floyd's death had been fired without going through the proper channels. In response, the Minneapolis AFL-CIO made up of 175 local affiliate unions, issued a statement condemning the murder and asking Bob Kroll to step down.

Since Dr. King was killed in 1968, we have all seen the biggest protests for racial equality in American history in the past few weeks. Every year, police kill more than 1,000 people. This number is very high for a country with many resources. For example, a police officer is 60 times more likely to kill an American than a resident of the UK. Also, a black American is three times more likely to die at the hands of a police officer than a white American.

In a recent study, researchers found that when police unions and police violence started to happen in the 1950s, between.026 and.029, more people were killed by the unionized police force. This means that each police force will need to hire an extra 60–70 people each year. Police officers say that, despite these numbers, the union gives them these protections to keep them safe. But when it comes to officers killed on the job, there doesn't seem to be any difference between unionized and non-unionized police forces. In the same way, the fact that the local police force is unionized does not change the crime rate.

The local or state government is in charge of the police unions. As a citizen, your vote gives you control over the police union. Ask your candidates these questions. Vote for candidates who want to look at the power police unions have. We have the tools to make change happen, but we must work hard to use them. Many people and cinematographers have raised their voices on this police brutality. Like how Brett Lempner, cinematographer and editor, raised his voice with the movie "I AM DYING I CAN NOT BREATHE."