It took 9 days of constant protests after George Floyd’s death for his killers to all be charged. In that time, police forces across the nation have not toned down their brutality; rather, more officers seem to be using excessive force against peaceful protesters without any provocation. This has led to a massive movement against systemic racism and for a fundamental change in the way our police forces operate.

Many activists are advocating for drastic reform in police policies and rules to address this issue. Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Justin Amash are introducing legislation to end qualified immunity for police officers, which would remove their protection from civil lawsuits. Campaign Zero’s 8 Can’t Wait initiative provides eight policies that together can reduce police violence by 72%. Due to public pressure, an increasing number of lawmakers are looking at adopting these guidelines for proposed legislation, which may lead to a surge in police reforms across the country. However, some people say that just implementing new policies is not enough to change the actions of police. According to the New York Times, the Minneapolis PD changed their policies in 2015 to include a “duty to intervene” if an officer saw a colleague conducting improper behavior.

However, this did nothing to prevent the death of George Floyd. Numerous prominent people and human rights groups believe the correct way to go is by defunding police forces nationwide. The Black Lives Matter organization has called for the redistribution of the police budget partly into black communities so they have access to more opportunities and better resources. Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted that all police departments “violating people’s civil rights” should have their federal funding cut. This is gaining traction in some places; on June 3rd, the LA mayor announced a cut of $100-150 million to the city’s police budget of almost $2 billion. But regardless of what approach lawmakers decide to take, one thing is certain: this is just the beginning. The fight against systemic racism and police brutality is not over.