Michigan Police Department Apologizes for Using Photos of Black Men for Target Practice
A police department in Farmington Hills, Mich., will conduct a legal review after photographs of shooting range targets with images of Black men on them were taken at the department’s practice area.
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A police department in Farmington Hills, Mich., will conduct a legal review after photographs of shooting range targets with images of Black men on them were taken at the department’s practice area, The Guardian reports. The photos, taken and reported after a Boy Scouts field trip to the department by family that does not want to be identified for fear of reprisal, have led to accusations of biased policing and racism in the department.
The targets have been removed from the practice area. In late June, Farmington Hills Police Chief Jeff King apologized and said the images were intended to represent a mix of threatening and non-threatening targets. King added that the human depictions were in compliance with the Michigan commission on law enforcement standards, and claimed that the targets used during the training were 85 percent white and 15 percent Black. The legal review will analyze that demographic ratio and how the police officers use the targets.
