CALM’s primary goal is to promote calm responses in police interactions with civilians and stop law enforcement misconduct consisting of racial profiling, police brutality, and excessive force toward people and animals.  CALM promotes police protection and civility between law enforcement and communities. The purpose of CALM is to:

• Lessen neighborhood tensions,
• Eliminate prejudice and discrimination, and
• Protect humans and animals and civil rights secured by law.

The goal is to reduce misconduct by law enforcement officers. This purpose will be accomplished by:

• Developing relationships with police departments to promote appropriate conduct, training, and policies
• Serving as an information repository for data on:
  • Incidents of misconduct and
  • Law enforcement and community programs that work well and those that do not
• Developing and analyzing potential reform proposals
• Developing tools and materials to raise awareness and aid individuals in the case of a police stop.

This is a national crisis that impacts everyone. Twenty-four years ago on March 2, 1991, America was shocked by the video of Los Angeles police officers brutally beating Rodney King.  Fast forward a quarter of a century, and the incidents of police misconduct (racial profiling, police brutality, and excessive force) have touched people across America: African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Caucasians, the LGBT community, and others.  It has become a national crisis.

Police civility and trust between law enforcement and their communities are national values that have been lost.  Today, police forces are equipped with weapons and high-technology tools and trained in accordance with zero tolerance policies that have resulted in lethal force for minor offenses.

We can change this approach.  Too many children today fear police instead of trust them for protection.  Too many mothers sit in fear that their children’s lives will be ruined or ended through an unfortunate encounter with the police.  Too many lives have been needlessly lost or damaged out of law enforcement’s failure to respond in a calm manner.

Law enforcement misconduct is a national misconduct that goes against what this country stands for: equality and justice.

• It is time that calm responses and police civility become the expectation and the law.

• It is time that police departments screen out candidates who hanker for authority and domination.

• It is time that police department policies and training stress calm responses and respect.

• It is time that laws are enacted to provide civil and criminal penalties for law enforcement officers who engage in racial profiling, brutality, and use of excessive force against people and animals (primarily dogs).
• It is time that American’s civil liberties and rights are fully respected.

This can be achieved through the individuals and communities that support CALM.

Communities Against Law Enforcement Misconduct (CALM) was formed by Jody Westby as a result of the enormous response that she received following her intervention in the detainment of a disabled African American in her neighborhood on October 1, 2014.

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2787400/Just-s-black-doesn-t-mean-robbed-house-The-moment-attorney-stopped-police-arresting-elderly-disabled-black-man-suspicion-robbing-house-mile-away.html 
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/jodywestby/2014/10/14/police-departments-do-not-get-it-on-racial-profiling/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/what-if-jody-westby-had-n_b_5962526.html

The outpouring of responses from people across the United States from every age, race, nationality, and background, and from countries, such as the UK, Netherlands, Australia, and Sweden, moved Ms. Westby to action.  Those who emailed, wrote letters, and telephoned recalled instances of law enforcement misconduct and expressed a sense of helplessness against a system that has not kept pace with civil liberties, human rights, and general decency.  Ms. Westby recognized this as a problem that ran against national values and had to be corrected.