“My family came to America to escape the Armenian Genocide and found refuge in Michigan. I believe that we’re stronger when our policies are equitable and lift up every Michigander no matter where you come from in the world, what you look like, or who you love.” - Ethan

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• Improve collaboration between law enforcement and the communities they serve by expanding civilian oversight panels to oversee local police departments and community policing. 

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• Limit use of excessive and deadly force by law enforcement.  I would support requiring and funding trainings for officers on strategies to limit the use of force and de-escalate violent situations as well as how to deal with people with different cognitive abilities, restrict the use of chokeholds and other neck restraints unless a person poses an imminent threat, and require officers to use every other alternative before shooting. 

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• Strengthen accountability for officers who break the public trust by barring police departments from hiring officers who previously departed from another department due to misconduct and/or use of excessive force.

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• Implicit bias and cultural competency training for all public employees to ensure that all public servants understand the diverse constituencies they serve. 

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• Defend the rights of immigrants and refugees by promoting policies that recognize that new Michiganders make us stronger and introducing measures to ensure our tax dollars are being used to keep us safe, not aiding the Trump administration's inhumane and immoral immigration policy. 

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• Reform our criminal justice system by ending our cash bail system, treating certain issues like addiction and mental health as health issues instead of crime issues, ending for-profit prisons, and working toward enacting reforms recommended by the Michigan Join Task Force on Jail and Incarceration. 

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• Reduce recidivism by investing in job training programs and eliminating barriers that stand in the way of people becoming contributing members of society after their release. These programs will help the individual, their families, the community, and save taxpayer dollars when compared with the costs of recidivism. 

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• Ban the Box to stop the job applications of formerly incarcerated people from being thrown out before looking at the content of their application. 

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• Encourage school districts to expand the size of their applicant pool to recruit teachers of color because we know that representation in the classroom matters. Learn more about my plan to improve education and fight for our public schools by clicking here! 

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• Modify the Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act to include hair texture and style as a characteristic of race to prevent discrimination on the basis of natural hairstyles. 

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• Learn about how I will stand with the LGBTQIA+ community by clicking here! 

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