TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - Several protest groups are joining together in Tallahassee to contest the "Operation Safe Neighborhoods" initiative and hiring of new police officers.
Six members of a newly created group called the Black Liberation Action Coordinating Committee (BLACC) carried signs and chanted outside the City Commission during the meeting.
The protesters claimed hiring more police officers would further harm the black community, which they feel has been violently targeted for years by the Tallahassee Police Department.
In a press release, BLACC added that the proposed budget item is at the expense of other services such as building new sidewalks. They mention the 2014 incident of Viola Young, a Tallahassee grandmother who was tased by TPD officers. The protesters claim that Young was tased because her family members weren't walking on the sidewalk.
They also say that they object to more police because of racial profiling by officers and that they, "...want Jobs, not Cops."
The protesters encouraged people to call their local commissioners and voice their opposition to "Operation Safe Neighborhoods."
The proposal was not included in the City Commission agenda, despite claims by BLACC that the item was stripped suddenly from the original one.
