Miami cops caught using photos of black teens for shooting practice

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Miami cops caught using photos of black teens for shooting practice

Officers from a South Florida police department are under fire after being caught using photos of actual black teenagers for target practice.

Sergeant Valerie Deant from the Florida National Guard arrived at the shooting range last month for training and recognized her brother’s 15-year-old booking photo among the bullet-riddled targets left behind by North Miami Beach police officers.

Other targets were also African American men, and some just teenagers. The department is  however, defending the practice

The Mail Online reports: North Miami Beach Police Chief J. Scott Dennis says there is nothing wrong with this practice at all however, and even defends its use.

‘Our policies were not violated,’ Dennis said.

‘There is no discipline forthcoming from the individuals who were involved with this.’

Dennis said it is common practice to use actual mugshots, and members of the same ethnic group help with facial recognition exercises.

NBC 6 Investigators spoke with both federal and state law enforcement agencies, as well as five local police departments, and they all said they use commercially produced targets for shooting practice, and never mugshots of actual people.

Dennis does say however that he regrets the usage of a mugshot of an actual Miami resident.

 

 

 

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