On January 1, Oscar Grant -- already subdued by police and lying face down -- was shot in the back and killed by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale station.

Unfortunately, this tragedy is not a first for the BART police force, which has been accused in the past of using excessive and unnecessary force in two other shooting deaths.

Unlike most police departments around the country, BART police are not subject to a civilian oversight board, despite numerous calls for one by community leaders over the years. But BART has refused.

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Senator Leland Yee promised to introduce legislation requiring BART to create a civilian oversight board -- like the boards that have improved accountability and police conduct in other communities. While this is a significant step in the right direction, we must ensure that the legislature passes a strong bill.

Will you join the Courage Campaign and our friends at Color of Change by signing on to our letter thanking Ammiano and Yee for their legislation -- and demanding that the bill provide the strongest civilian oversight possible?

Dear Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Senator Leland Yee,

We, the undersigned, want to thank you for promising to introduce a bill in the state legislature mandating that Bay Area Rapid Transit create a long-overdue civilian oversight board for the BART police department.

The horrific killing of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer is the latest of several unjustified officer-involved shootings by BART police. This tragedy reveals the need for the public to have accountability and ongoing oversight over one of the Bay Area's most visible law enforcement agencies.

We believe that only through a civilian oversight board can we ensure that this never happens again to any passenger on the BART system. The community outrage in response to this tragedy show that BART police are losing the trust of many of the people they are supposed to serve. Without that trust, BART officers cannot do their jobs, and the public will become less safe. The only way that trust can be restored is for the public to see that the BART police are held accountable to the civilian population.

We expect that you will follow through on your promise and deliver a bill that provides for the strongest civilian oversight possible. If this promise is kept, we will work to ensure that the bill becomes law and that it is implemented properly to give Bay Area citizens the open government and public accountability they are owed.

This kind of shooting death must never happen again.

Sincerely,

The undersigned