Florida police use black suspects mugshots for target practice

Florida police officers have been criticized for using mugshots of black suspects for target practice.

The images used by North Miami Beach Police were discovered by a female soldier who used the firing range after a police training session.

Sgt. Valerie Deant recognized her brother as one of the target images, according to NBC Miami.

Police Chief J Scott Dennis said that his officers had used poor judgment but denied racial profiling.

He told NBC that using real suspect images was an important part of training for his sniper team and that his officers had not violated any policies.

“There is no discipline forthcoming from the individuals who were involved with this,” he said.

A police spokeswoman added that officers use targets of all races and genders in their training sessions.

The six targets left behind by police were found last month by Sgt. Valerie Deant, a band member of the Florida Army National Guard.

“I was like, why is my brother being used for target practice?” she told NBC Miami on January 16.

The photo of her brother Woody Deant had been taken after his arrest as a teenager for drag racing. It had been shot several times.

Valerie Deant said he was “speechless” when he heard the news.

“Now I’m being used as a target? I’m not even living that life according to how they portrayed me as. I’m a father. I’m a husband. I’m a career man. I work nine to five.”

Police Chief J Scott Dennis said they were “very very concerned” that one of the targets had been of a man who would be on the streets of North Miami Beach.

He said that the department would no longer use images of suspects they had arrested.