Florida Cops Busted Using Black Men’s Mugshots For Target Practice!

Oh just another extreme case of racial injustice being practiced by one of our state’s corrupt police departments. It’s so sad that we have to get used to hearing this kind of news… but what’s even worse is the fact that it really doesn’t surprise us anymore. Now granted, this story is about 4 years old, but it did happen & I’m wondering if this is still being practiced.

The Florida Army National Guard was scheduled to have a weapons qualification training at a shooting range in Medley, Florida. When the soldiers walked in the facility, they were taken by surprise (and not in a good way) when they discovered somebody had been using the faces of black men as target practice. One soldiers in particular (Sgt. Valerie Deant) took it very hard because her brother’s face was one of the men’s faces being used for target practice. Now her brother’s mugshot had been taken almost years prior when he caught a charge back in 2000, for charges connected to drag racing. He served 4 years in jail & now his face is being used as target practice. SMH

They later discovered the culprits behind using the faces just so happened to be the North Miami Beach Police Snipers, who had used the facility right before the guardsmen arrived. North Miami Beach Police Chief J. Scott Dennis admitted that his officers could have used better judgment, but denies any racial profiling, and he even mentioned how the sniper team includes minority officers. He says the technique is widely used and it is vital for the facial recognition drills the department uses. “The use of those targets doesn’t seem correct,” Alex Vasquez, a retired FBI agent, said. “The police have different options for targets. I think the police have to be extra careful and sensitive to some issues that might be raised.”

The police chief said his department will continue to use human image targets after it expands the number of images in its inventory. His officers, will not use any booking photos from suspects they have arrested and he’ll direct his officers to remove the targets after they use the shooting range.

Woody Deant, who did four years in prison after his 2000 arrest, expressed outrage. “Now I’m being used as a target?” said Woody Deant. “I’m not even living that life according to how they portrayed me as. I’m a father. I’m a husband. I’m a career man. I work 9-to-5.”

The Deants contacted Attorney Andell Brown who said he finds the use of human images for target practice extremely disturbing. “This can create a very dangerous situation,” Brown said. “And it has been ingrained in your subconscious what does that mean when someone [police] comes across Woody or another person on the street and their decision-making process on using deadly force or not.”

Do you guys think the police department is wrong for this or is it needed for what the snipers have to do?