Bounce TV and one of its founders, Martin Luther King III, are launching an on-air and online initiative asking the Justice Department to require that local law enforcement be trained in de-escalating incidents with African Americans.
The move comes in the wake of police shootings involving African-American victims.
“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,” said King, son of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. “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. We must do all we can to help them with committed sensitivity training and work towards eliminating the implicit bias that is at the heart of the matter.”
The initiative will feature King and the casts and producers of Bounce TV’s original shows, including In the Cut, Saints & Sinners, Mann & Wife and Family Time.
Bounce TV is teaming with The Root, an online news, opinion and culture site for African Americans to support the effort.
