Politics & Government

NAACP, Residents to Hold News Conference at City Hall

Civil rights organization wants City of Laurel to "revamp" its police force.

The Prince George’s County Chapter of the NAACP is intensifying its call for the City of Laurel to revamp its police department amid of allegations of use of excessive force.

On Monday, Sept. 10, the NAACP will join with residents to hold a news conference at the Laurel Municipal Center at 6 p.m., an hour before a scheduled City Council meeting.

NAACP leadership has of its police department since an officer .

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The NAACP contends that the city police department has a history of , particularly in the minority community. Officials with the chapter said they would be filing a complaint with the Department of Justice regarding the incident.

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“That police department needs to be totally revamped,” Boss Ross, NAACP chapter president, told Laurel Patch. “They’ve got to change their attitude and come into the 21st Century.”

City officials have not commented on the incident because it is under investigation.

Still, citizens organized a small protest outside police headquarters last month shortly before the city announced that it would remove the officer filmed in the video from patrol.

But Ross said more should be done to address the concerns of the community regarding the incident and others. He said the NAACP has received five official complaints from residents who said they were subject to excessive force from city police.

“That was the tip of the iceberg going on with the Laurel Police Department,” Ross said.


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