Christmas wish list for Eric Garner

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner died from asphyxiation when a New York City police officer put him in a chokehold for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.  Four months later, a NYC grand jury did not find probable cause to indict the cop who killed him.  So as the holidays come around and people start wishing for gadgets and gizmos, I wish for only one thing; that this never happens again.

Dear Santa: While some kids are busy filling their wish lists with iPhone 6’s and Rocket Raccoon action figures, I come to you with a different sort of proposition. My wish list is simple. It consists of four things that will provide more value than anything money can buy–safety and security for all people living in the United States. Here it is.

1. Body cameras on all police officers so that we, the people police are meant to protect and serve, can police the police. Even if the footage of Eric Garner’s death did not bring about an indictment, police body cameras have been proven to significantly reduce complaints against law enforcement officers.  President Obama has already proposed legislation for this but it could always use a little help.

2. Eradicate the 1033 program and demilitarize the police; local cops don’t need tanks.  As we saw in the aftermath of Ferguson, police with military-grade equipment tend to stretch their bounds.  We don’t want to see police officers driving in our streets in vehicles that were meant for Iraq; that is farther than the government should be allowed to go.

3. Increase transparency in the grand jury system: We deserve to know why a decision was made in situations involving the police and alleged violence against members of the public. Some secrecy in a grand jury is necessary, but to refuse to release the basis for a no indictment decision involving alleged police violence is unaccountable justice and angers the public more Out of 162,000 federal grand jury trials in 2010, 11 people were not indicted but on a state level, cops are almost never indicted.  This does not seem like justice served, but rather, justice averted.

4.  Everyone must vote. The best way for justice to be served is to have your voice be heard, and your voice is heard by your ballot not your social network feed.  As Rev. Al Sharpton reminded us: “12 percent turnout is an insult to your children.”  But in order to ensure that all voices are being heard there also needs to be a repeal of voter ID laws and a revision of laws that prohibit millions of felons from voting.
 
Santa, if you could do just these four things for me, our country would be a better place. And Eric Garner, I know you can’t hear me, but you have started something big.  Now it is our job to ensure that tangible change comes from your involuntary sacrifice. Because while we need peaceful protest: a protest without an agenda is merely a mob.  So protest for something more than just the death of Eric Garner. Protest for Eric Garner’s Christmas List to ensure that this terrible tragedy is never repeated. 

Lewis is a senior at Georgetown Day School, a private high school in the D.C. area.