Protesters Want All Philadelphia Police Officers Connected To Alleged Racist Social Media Posts To Be Removed From Streets
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia Police officials announced Wednesday that more than 70 officers are now off the street in connection to controversial Facebook posts. Members of the Rally for Justice coalition say more needs to be done and want all the officers connected to be taken off the street.
The Rally for Justice coalition held a protest on Thursday that began at City Hall, calling for more action to be taken in the scandal connected to a number of police officers.
The group is comprised of civic leaders NAACP members the black clergy and other activists.
They are not fully happy with the response to hundreds of officers who reportedly posted racist and violent public Facebook posts unearthed by the Plain View Project.
"We support Derrick Green's resolution, calling for hearings on the racist police who posted on Facebook," Solomon Jones said, "and said openly that they hate the people whose communities they patrol."
The group wants city council to intervene on the heels of Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross's announcement that 72 of the 328 officers involved have been placed on administrative duty.
The Rally for Justice coalition showed up in force at the City Council meeting Thursday afternoon.
They say they won't be satisfied until all officers involved in this scandal are removed from the streets.
"We know there's several members of council are planning to make statements around this issue, we need them to make a statement and speak up and do what they're hired to do, their job is to represent the people," Jones said.
"So today, we want our city leaders, who we just voted for to join with us to make certain that the police that do not want to police our community are removed," Paula Peebles said.
Despite calls for mass firings within the police department, Fraternal Order of Police officials say their officials deserve due process as the investigation plays out.
"We feel that it's excessive to take over 6,000 police officers off the street with the level of violence that's occurring in the city," FOP vice president John McGrody said. "We're also backing the officers here on a daily basis with the interviews. We think the investigation is far too broad."
The FOP concerned that the more officers that are taken off the streets, the more vulnerable the city becomes to the crime wave they say it's already experiencing.
FOP members are also upset that action is already being taken before the investigation has concluded.