Mugshot Practice - North Miami Beach police have caused public outcry after reports surfaced of its sniper team using mugshots of African-American men for target practice.
The photo lineup which were used for target practice by the police sniper team consisted of only black males who were arrested 15 years ago.
The news became public after Sgt. Valerie Deant, a Florida Army National Guard and her colleagues visited a Medley shooting range for their annual weapons training in December.
Sgt. Deant was shell shocked when she accidentally peeped through the bin and found her brother's photo among other six faces filled with bullet holes.
The police department has since come under fire after NBC 6 reported the story this past week. Questions have been raised about the wisdom of using mugshots of black males as target practice especially given the nationwide tension between officials and the African-American community.
Sgt. Deant's brother Woody Deant, who was arrested in 2000 as a teenager for participating in a drag race that left two people dead, wasn't pleased with the news.
Woody was released in 2004 from prison after serving a four-year sentence and has since turned his life around- being a husband and father working a nine to five job. He expressed his disappointment via social media.
"ATTENTION!!!!!! To all my friends, Facebook friends and family. I have fallen victim to criminal profiling by the North Miami Beach Police Dept."
He also added "We are targets!!!!".
However, authorities have denied the claim of racial profiling. Maj. Kathy Katerman says the mugshot practice with only photos of black males does not reflect the department's relationship with the community.
"We don't just shoot at black males," she said. "We have other targets too."
Katerman says marksmen also practice with mugshots of Anglosaxons and Hispanics because officials find it effective to train with lineups of people who share the same physical characteristics.
"The picture actually has like bullet holes," Woody Deant told NBC 6. "One in my forehead and one in my eye......I was speechless."
North Miami Beach Police Chief J. Scott Dennis said on Thursday that his department does not have racial profiling issues although it's easy to see how the mugshot practice photos could have caused public outcry.
He added that the officials involved should have known better, but that they would not be punished as no laws were violated. The training program has been suspended and would be reviewed.
"I immediately suspended the sniper training program as we conduct a thorough review of our training process and materials, ordered commercially produced training images, and opened an investigation into the matter," Dennis said in five paragraph statement.
