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Cleveland NAACP chapter demands change from local police departments

The organization sent out a press release Thursday looking to change certain violent police practices
Credit: Sylvia Lorson | @sylviagracee
Hundreds of people to the streets of Cleveland Saturday, May 30 in protest of the death of George Floyd, a Minnesota man killed in police custody.

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has issued a list of changes that they hope local police departments will consider in the future. 

"The Cleveland Branch of the NAACP is disturbed by the activities that have transpired across the county over the last several weeks," the organization said in a press release Thursday. "The death of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Desmond Franklin, right here in Cleveland, require us to have specific demands in order to ensure justice is served." 

Included in the list are requests such as "a ban on the use of knee holds and choke holds," "implementation of Citizen Review Boards in municipalities," and "screening and interviewing practices to eliminate individuals with high propensity to use excessive force."

"Now is not the time for us to lose steam or lose focus on the task at hand, we need real lasting reform and more than lip service from our elected officials. None of our citizens are safe if all of our citizens are not safe," chapter President Danielle L. Sydnor said. "Photo ops and press releases will not convince us of that commitment, only change in policy and better accountability for misconduct will suffice."

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