Mothers Against Police Brutality Calls For Meeting with NFL Commissioner To Form Task Force

WASHINGTON - Dec. 8, 2016 - PRLog -- Mothers Against Police Brutality, a national organization aimed at curbing police violence against citizens, today asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to address the problem by creating a task force that will serve to help promote community healing and unity.

In a letter to Goodell, the group  requested a meeting with the Commissioner , telling him its members have  been approached by several professional NFL players who expressed their concern about the ongoing episodes of police shooting unarmed civilians, many of whom are Black and Latino.  "The mothers in our organization – and, indeed, most African American mothers – fear for their sons lives, that includes mothers of NFL players. An African American NFL player, when off the field, can be just as vulnerable to police violence as any other young black man in this country, " said MAPB  Founder Colleen Flanagan

"We  believe that the NFL could become a very effective voice in addressing this crisis, which involves hundreds of families each year." said  Flanagan who lost her son to deadly police violence in 2013.  "Players such a Colin Kaepernick, Anquan Boldin, Josh McCown, and others have taken on a vital role in the movement for justice in policing, and they should be encouraged to speak out,"  she added.

Flanagan feels the task force will help support innovative ways  policing can protect and serve the people of every community in America.  In the letter to the NFL Commissioner, Flanagan commended the league on its efforts to stem domestic violence.  She urged Goodell "to bring the same morale outrage to the unjust use of deadly force by police, which so closely impacts your players personally and the communities in which so many of them grew up. Now is the time for the NFL to step up. "

Mothers Against Police Brutality is a national organization based in Dallas, Texas. The purposes of MAPB are to stop the unaccountable use of police deadly force in America, particularly the killing of unarmed and mentally ill persons by law enforcement agencies; to change the deadly force policies and practices in the City of Dallas and nationally​;​ to support families who have lost loved ones to police violence; and to help restore trust between the police and the communities they are sworn to serve and protect.  MAPB is the only organization based in the lived experience of mothers and families who have lost their loved ones to police violence. Collette Flanagan founded MAPB after her son, Clinton Allen, an unarmed 25-year-old African American, was shot to death by a Dallas police officer in 2013.