Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 6-26-20

Features
Tampa Mayor Holds Press Conference To Announce Police Policy Changes
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor has issued numerous state- ments over the last 3 weeks and has held several press conferences to state her posi- tion on the recent protests.
On Friday morning, she held a news conference to state what she said will be policy changes to the police department.
During a telephone inter- view with the Sentinel days after the protests began, Mayor Castor said the city is trying to allow people to protest while keeping them and the communities safe.
“Everyone is very angry over the murder. But not all may recognize it as systemic issues. We are providing a platform for them to express themselves.”
She also stated why she called in the National Guard. “The city has received numer- ous threats stating that spe- cific buildings were going to be burned. She requested 100 National Guardmen in re- sponse to those threats.
“I placed them at specific lo- cations that were going to be targeted overnight. They just stood at those locations so a presence would be there overnight. The next day, I sent them home.” She did not state where the Guardsmen were staged.
While Mayor Castor says she marched for 8 miles with protesters, she also says that protesters were warned an hour before to disperse or they would be arrested.
Numerous reports of Tampa
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor at the press conference on Friday.
bano, Plant City Police Chief Edward Duncan, USF Po- lice Chief Chris Daniel, the president and vice president of the Police Union, an attor- ney from the ACLU and At- torney Joseph Diacco who facilitated on Wednesday prior to Mayor Castor’s po- lice policy press conference.
According to Ms. Lewis, the NAACP had a 3 page list of concerns and shared them with the heads of law enforce- ment. From that meeting, 5 of the top concerns were adopted by the group as starting points for change within the police agencies. Mayor Castor was not invited to the meeting.
Ms. Lewis also expressed concerns about Mayor Cas- tor’s proposal to have FDLE investigate police officers’ misconduct. And also states that some of the policy changes Mayor Castor an- nounced have been on the books for years.
“One of the things that the Union rep stated was training for officers who intervene if they see other officers using excessive force, or who report ‘bad police’, and the retalia- tion against the reporting offi- cer,” Lewis said.
Ms. Lewis is also ques- tioning the 40-member Task Force proposed by the Mayor. “What exactly does Mayor Castor hope to accomplish with that many people, espe- cially with only 2 meetings planned, she said.
As of press time, the Sen- tinel had not received a re- sponse from Mayor Castor on the makeup of the commit- tee.
Police officers clashing with protesters, and arresting peaceful protesters using what some claim was unnec- essary force, led to numerous community leaders and clergy to call on the Mayor for an- swers.
One of the many incidents that has the community in an uproar was the arrest of New Mt. Zion M. B. church’s min- ister of music that was videoed on Facebook Live. According to witnesses, Tampa Police officers on bicy- cles surrounded the peaceful protesters while they were disbursing, and arrested them.
This happened after the Mayor asked to be included in a prayer vigil organized by the local clergy that was held in front of the Police Depart- ment.
The arrest and subsequent answers as to the where- abouts of the minister and the other peaceful protesters led to a firestorm of calls and so- cial media posts.
In her statement on Friday, she said, “the public outcry nationwide and here in our own backyard highlights the need for policing to evolve.”
Measures Castor said she was taking include having a ban on chokeholds written into department policy and requiring officers to intervene if another officer is engaged in police brutality.
Specifically, Castor de- scribed three initiatives:
1. Change in Investigating TPD Officer-Involved Shoot- ings
• FDLE will investigate all officer-involved shootings
2. Changes to Policy
• Police officers will inter-
vene if they see other officers using excessive force; the pol- icy language will change
• Chokeholds were banned 30 years ago, but it will now be spelled out in the policy
3. New Task Force
• 40 members will make up task force
• Will help with two-way communication between the community and police
• Task force will be divided into small groups. USF will help moderate
• Meetings to be held on June 27 and July 18
"Now is the time for us to have uncomfortable, but nec- essary conversations that are needed to effect meaningful change in our community," Mayor Castor said.
Hillsborough County NAACP President Yvette Lewis has been on the front line of the issue since the protests began. According to her, she and other members of the executive committee met with Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, Sheriff Chad Chronister, Temple Terrace Police Chief Kenneth R. Al-
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