People For the American Way’s (PFAW) Next Up Victory Fund endorsed 100 new candidates for state and local offices across the U.S. who are focused on stopping police killings. (Courtesy Photo)

By Imani Wj Wright
Special to the AFRO

People For the American Way’s (PFAW) Next Up Victory Fund, held a virtual press conference, announcing their endorsement of 100 new candidates running for state and local offices across the U.S. on Oct. 1. 

PFAW is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and build a democratic society that implements the ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity and justice for all. According to the organization, the slate of candidates selected  are “committed to stopping police killings and have demonstrated their commitment to create solutions that reimagine public safety and protect their communities.” 

Leading the conference were PFAW President Ben Jealous (D-MD), Christian Menefee, candidate for Harris County Attorney (D-TX), Stephanie Morales, District Attorney (D-Portsmouth,VA), William H. “Billy” Murphy, attorney for the family of Freddie Gray and  current Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott (D-MD).

“This is a big moment in our country, when there’s maximum consensus that it’s time for us to finally stop the scourge of police brutality- and especially the senseless killings of unarmed civilians. We know from the historic movement to end lynch mob violence in our country, that changing who is in office at the local and state level is critical to success in a challenge like this,” Jealous said opening the panel. 

“We’ve now seen thirty years of video… Thirty years of video since the Rodney King case. There’s no more debate. The reality is, we know we have to increase accountability to transform public safety and we have to build the movement to do so. Not just in the streets, but by changing who’s in power,” Jealous added.

Murphy followed Jealous shortly after, echoing the PFAW President’s point, and adding a call for comprehensive police reform.

“If we don’t get comprehensive police reform this year, something is really wrong. We have, for the first time, what seems to be a national consensus on , and we have the wind at our backs. That doesn’t mean we need to relax. We need to work harder than ever to take advantage of this very moment,” said Murphy, who recently won a landmark case and settlement after a Prince George’s County policeman killed area resident William Green.     

Murphy described the key elements of police reform. Explaining that in order to fix the issue of bad officers, we should first begin sifting out applicants before they even have a chance to join the force. He also mentioned that getting rid of the current “bad apples” is another aspect of cleaning up police departments around the U.S.- focusing on depleting the “Blue Code” culture. The “Blue Code,” also known as the “blue wall of silence,” is the informal code of silence among police officers not to report on a colleague’s errors, misconducts or crimes, including police brutality.  Despite his call for police reform, Murphy also emphasized that he “hates” the phrase “defund the police,” due to the division he feels it causes. 

Scott, who is the presumed next mayor of Baltimore, championed the 100 candidate’s initiative. “I look forward as the next mayor of Baltimore City to work with everyone on this slate to protect the lives of people. build a public safety system where Black lives matter, where women matter, where Brown lives matter, where Trans lives matter- to make sure that we are treated just like everyone else.”

With a focus on redeveloping the landscape of policing, the AFRO asked Jealous to explain how departments can decipher, who is fit to be an officer. 

“The most effective way is typically a personality test and then using it in the right way. They’re a lot of departments that use them, but they don’t use them in the right way. You can use personality tests in order to filter out people who have high levels of bias- people who are racist. You can also use them to weed out people who have high levels of authoritarianism. Racism obviously is a real factor in whether or not you’re abusive towards people of color,” Jealous answered.  “The issue of authoritarianism really becomes determinative in whether or not an officer will actually kill someone.”

The PFAW President also suggests a national registry of officers who have been abusive in the past, as officers tend to leave one county and get hired by others, causing a recurring issue.

For PFAW’s full endorsement list visit: https://www.pfaw.org/campaign/next-up-victory-fund/end-police-killings-slate.