Members quit SWAT team, cite ‘disdain’ for the unit

Officers stereotyped as racist unfairly, he says

PHOENIX — The leader of Phoenix’s police union said the movement to defund or reduce funding for law enforcement agencies is based on the erroneous and unfair belief that all officers are violent and racist.

Britt London, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, expressed frustration Friday over the scrutiny that officers across the nation are getting as a result of the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.

London said he understands the pain and frustration people feel over Floyd’s death, which came after a white officer pressed his knee on the neck of Floyd, who was black, for more than eight minutes. But London said upstanding officers shouldn’t have to face false assumptions that they’re racist.

“Phoenix is not Minnesota,” London said. “We’re not Minneapolis. That incident occurred 1,200 miles away. You can’t blame everyone for that incident.”

Over the last week, Phoenix and other communities have faced calls from critics to disband police agencies or redirect funding from law enforcement operations to community development programs.

Joel Cornejo, a leader of the Tempe-based human rights group Semillas and a proponent of abolishing police departments, said people don’t have time to wait for police culture to change.

“They don’t care about the feelings of the community,” Cornejo said of officers. “They only care about protecting their business.”

Over the last two weeks, thousands of demonstrators have been gathering regularly in downtown Phoenix to protest police brutality.

Demonstrators focused on the May 25 death of Dion Johnson, a black man who was fatally shot during an encounter with an Arizona

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Ten members of a South Florida police department’s SWAT team have resigned from the team, citing safety concerns and local officials’ “disdain” for the unit.

The eight officers and two sergeants resigned from the team, but did not resign from the Hallandale Beach Police Department.

Police Chief Sonia Quinones received a memo from the SWAT team Friday morning, City Manager Greg Chavarria said in a statement that thanked the officers for their service but disputed some of their account.

The officers said they were “minimally equipped” and had been “disrespected” by city officials who refused to address equipment and training concerns, the officers’ memo provided to The Associated Press by city officials said.

The officers also said they were outraged that command staff had recently joined protesters and other officials in taking a knee as demonstrators called for the case of Howard Bowe to be reopened.

Bowe, a 34-year-old black man, was killed in 2014 by Hallandale Beach’s SWAT team as it carried out a search warrant and raided his home. The officers wrote that investigators never found that any misconduct had been committed by the officers involved in Bowe’s death.

Department of Safety officer along a freeway.

Authorities say the officer noticed Dion Johnson passed out in a car and removed a gun from the vehicle, but Johnson grabbed the officer, leading to a struggle during which the officer took out his gun and ordered Johnson to follow his commands.

Investigators say Johnson did so until the officer was putting his gun back into the holster, then Johnson grabbed for it and the officer opened fire.

Democratic state Rep. Reginald Bolding has asked the U.S. Justice Department to review the case for possible civil rights violations.