Miami – The Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board, in collaboration with Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert and the Miami Gardens Police Department, will hold a community briefing designed to build trust and improve cooperation and mutual respect between city residents and Miami Gardens police.
A panel of police and law enforcement leaders will share non-sensitive information on the progress of investigative activities conducted to date and tasks that are pending.
Elected officials and community leaders will share insights on what can be done to improve relations between residents and police. Members of the public will be given an opportunity for questions and comments.
The meeting comes after the NAACP called for a federal investigation into alleged civil rights violations at a local store.
Store owner Ali Saleh, a popular businessman in the community, said he installed 15 cameras after growing tired of seeing officers arrest his employees and customers for minor alleged offenses including trespassing and loitering on the premises.
The cameras captured several incidents in which officers stopped and searched customers and yelled racial slurs during arrests.
The story went viral and was picked up by the media after Saleh uploaded several videos on YouTube, including one in which his employee Earl Sampson was arrested one of 62 times.
A day after the NAACP called for the federal investigation then-Police Chief Matthew Boyd stepped down from his position as head of the Miami Gardens Police Department Dec. 11.
For more information, contact the Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board at 305-375-5730 or www.miamidade.gov/advocacy
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