Shreveporters Peacefully Protest Police Brutality and Racism Downtown

This weekend, hundreds of people gathered downtown to peacefully protest the murder of George Floyd as well as Tommie McGlothen Jr. and  Wavey Austin who died while in Shreveport Police Custody.

The demeanor was very serious at the weekend demonstration. All the anger toward not only the police, but the entire police and prison system cut through the Louisiana heat. This was no parade. People were fed up.

The protest was organized in part by Speak Up Shreveport and a group called We The People and the protest came with a list of demands for the city and police:

1. To construct and implement a citizens’ review board that is independent from the police department to handle any investigations of crimes involving law enforcement whenever harmful methods are employed. Harmful being any of but not limited to: police batons, firearms, mace, pepper spray.
An audit of the police department held by the aforementioned independent review board.
2. To require a persecutor that neither directly or indirectly works with the Shreveport or Bossier Police Department in any capacity when persecuting crimes involving law enforcement.
3. To create direct, quantifiable criteria to determine what it means to be of good moral character for the minimum requirements to become a police officer.
4. To require SPD applicants to test for implicit racial bias.
5. Better training practices within the SPD, including programs that occur quarterly and are evaluated for effectiveness every other quarter by both the SPD and the aforementioned citizens’ review board.
6. The requirement of body and dash cams for each officer and their vehicle.
7. The legal fees or settlement fees associated with any future cases involving police brutality or misconduct are to be paid out of the police retirement fund.
8. Prevent racial profiling.
9. Reformation of the cash bail/probation fines/fees system.
10. The funds allocated to new prison construction should be redirected to the renovation of standing prisons to provide and meet a standard of living suitable to the dignity of the inmate.
11. A rewrite of the qualified immunity law to ensure police officers face punishment once they have been found guilty of a crime.
12. The creation and implementation of a Good Neighbor Policy which will create immunity for anyone who saves a human being from (but not limited to) being pummeled, assaulted, and/or murdered by the police, in accordance with Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981) and the Duty to Rescue Doctrine.
We will also participate in a #WhiteByMySide Initiative.
We, the People, will not support any locally owned, white businesses who we've supported in the past (regardless of the friendships we may have) moving forward in the cities of Shreveport, LA or Bossier City, LA. This includes friends who are voiceless during these events, but will simultaneously exploit support from fellow black entrepreneurs' social followings for their own gain.
Instead, We will only support those who utilize their privilege by taking a clear stance (a public post or other actions via their Business Platform) in support of reprimanding and changing the standard of punishment given to officers who murder innocent civilians without just cause or proper protocol.