Hallandale Beach SWAT team steps down, outraged over police chief kneeling with protesters
The 10 members of the Hallandale Beach Police Department’s SWAT team have stepped down from their roles, citing among other grievances anger over the city’s police chief kneeling with protesters earlier this week, a memo the officers signed read. They will remain with the police department.
On Friday morning, Hallandale Beach received a memo from the members of the SWAT team with a list of grievances, Hallandale Beach City Manager Greg Chavarria said.
Police Chief Sonia Quiñones has set a meeting with the 10 officers on Monday to hear their concerns, collect their equipment and thank them for their service.
The city will continue to have SWAT coverage with the help of other local police agencies, Chavarria said.
In the memo, the officers say the SWAT team was minimally equipped, under trained and restrained. The memo says the safety of dogs was given priority over the safety of the officers at times.
“The risk of carrying out our duties in this capacity is no longer acceptable to us and our families,” the memo says. “The anguish and stress of knowing that what we may be lawfully called upon to do in today’s political climate combined with the team’s current situation and several recent local events., leaves us in a position that is untenable.”
But these reasons weren’t all that prompted the officers to step down. Hallandale Beach Police Chief Quiñones kneeling with protesters, including a “handful of political activists,” was “most shocking” of all, the memo states.
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 11:07 PM.
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