Recent events in the US involving police officers makes one question can we trust cops? The deaths of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, and now Terence Crutcher are making people rethink about their feelings towards the police. I may not be the target of police brutality because I am a white female, but I still have a huge problem with it.

When I was a child I trusted cops but once I hit my teens that trust started to fade away. Let me first say I know people who are cops personally and by association and I do not want to offend them. But I find it really hard these days to trust cops I do not know. Almost every month I hear about an unarmed individual getting killed by police officers usually of the opposite race. How am I suppose to respect police officers when their actions can reflect a disrespect for human life? I cannot even imagine what it feels like to be a young black man walking past a group of cops alone at night. Individuals should feel like they are safer in the presence of the police but now individuals feel like their lives are endanger. This should not be the case for anyone.

In other countries like Sweden police rarely and I mean rarely use lethal force. So it is not impossible. American police forces can be trained to de-escalate situations without using excessive force (can be considered police brutality) this is proven by police forces all over Europe to be successful.

I do not want to hear another name of a person who lost their life at the hands of an officer. I want to be able to trust American cops but in order for that to happen something needs to drastically change.