Bounce TV, the first and only over-the-air broadcast television network for African Americans, has called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make de-escalation training a requirement of all local law enforcement personnel.
Bounce TV is teaming with ‘The Root,’ the premier news, opinion and culture site for African American influencers to support the effort. The Root is an attention-getting, African American news site considered to be the voice of countless people, mirroring and supported by the community and things that affect our world receiving federal funding and equipment.
Bounce’s implementation
is set to be a major on-air, online and companywide initiative to lobby for the cause of the African American community. This initiative will include Martin Luther King III (a founding father of Bounce) as well as the casts and producers of the network’s original shows, including: Ed Gordon, In the Cut, Saints & Sinners, Mann & Wife and Family Time.
“We arm our police with weapons but we need to do better at arming them with the teaching and training on how they approach situations involving African Americans and how to de-escalate them. This is not an indictment of all police personnel, just an element within a group of people who have difficult, challenging and stressful jobs.
“Our police protect and serve all Americans and all of them need to approach each and every situation with the same sense of civility. The collaborative effort will do as much as we all can, to help them with committed sensitivity training and work towards eliminating the implicit bias that is at the heart of the matter” said King.
Certainly racism is too much for anyone and it is a poison that corrodes every aspect of our society.
The Root states that they will not remain silent while the malfeasances continue to plague our society as a whole. De-escalation and implicit-bias training should go hand in hand so officers recognize their prejudices and learn how to use their minds more—and their might as a last resort to defuse conflicts. When we are old enough to understand, walk and talk, most of us are taught to respect authority, especially law enforcement. This is a two way street and respect is earned. Hopefully this initiative will make a variable difference.
Readers and viewers can stay connected with the initiative on social media by following Bounce TV’s official social media accounts, such as @bouncetv and by using the official Hash tag #CallJustice4Peace.
