Miami-Dade Chiefs Of Police Meet With Activists Over Police Brutality Concerns

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Last Saturday in Coral Gables police chiefs in Miami-Dade sent a powerful message of love, listening and inclusion to people hurting over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Photos from the event gained attention on social media, showing police chiefs and other law enforcement officers kneeling together with protestors.

On Friday afternoon, those police chiefs from the Miami Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police followed through on their commitment to working with community members and activists to address some of the concerns over police misconduct and brutality.

"I stand confidently with my fellow chiefs in listening and addressing your concerns," said Coral Gables Police Chief Edward Hudak.

Activists like Oshea Johnson and Ahzin Bahraini outlined their demands during the meeting held over Zoom, which reached more than 200 people.

They want to see a civilian oversight panel with subpoena powers, quarterly Implicit bias training for officers and they want any police candidate who has been fired from another police agency disqualified from hiring.

They also want to see the hiring and recruiting of more diverse police officers as well as one common use of force policy set in place within 30 days. They also want an end to the killing of unarmed civilians.

"The second measurement is going to be when we see zero black deaths and deaths of unarmed civilians for 2020-2021 year," Bahraini said.

Police Chief Charles Press from Key Biscayne said the association wants to build on the goodwill built at last Saturday's protest and said they're committed to effective change.

"I can promise you and guarantee you that you will see positive things come out of this," Press said.

Press said getting 32 police agencies to agree on all of the demands of protestors will be difficult but he said it's important to continue this conversation, ask tough questions and seek common ground.

"It'll be our job, it'll be my job to take the main policies that involve police and citizens' interaction and confrontation and take a hard look and see what works for everybody,' Press said.