Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week we are asking people to join with the NAACP and sign a petition to our members of Congress demanding that they pass police reform legislation.

We’ve all heard this story far too many times. This summer it was George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Before them, it was Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Anthony McClain and Kendrec McDade. And now from Ohio it’s Casey Goodson, who like so many before, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, in the wrong skin.

Words cannot describe the profound sadness and anger that we feel not just for those named above, but also for the countless others we can’t begin to list here. It is clear the only way we can end the epidemic of police violence against Black people is by bringing systemic change to the institutions that are supposed to protect and keep us safe.

The petition demands sweeping legislative solutions to the policing crisis. We want criminal justice policies that include treatment for addiction and mental health problems, judicial discretion in sentencing, and an end to racial disparities at all levels of the system.

Despite being more likely to be unarmed (like Casey Goodson) Black people in the United States are THREE times more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts. And despite violent crime being at relatively historic lows in recent years, use of violence by police has remained constant across the country.

The problem isn’t the people. It’s the police that need to change.

Part of the problem stems from the institutions and laws that enable biases and blatant racism to fester in our police departments. Please join with the NAACP by signing their petition demanding that Congress immediately pass sweeping legislation to address the crisis in policing. Thank you!