"Miami" Police Caught Using African-American Mugshots As Target Practice!

VIDEO INSIDE

Officers from a South Florida police department are 

drawing fire after getting caught using photos of real-

life suspects for target practice. Critics told NBC South 

Florida, which first reported the controversy, that the 

North Miami Beach cops are racially insensitive 

because the six mug shots used at the firing range 

feature only African-American suspects.

A Florida National Guard sergeant arrived at the 

shooting range on a Saturday last month for training 

and recognized her brother's 15-year-old booking 

photo among the bullet-riddled targets left behind by 

North Miami Beach police officers, the station said.

Major Kathy Katerman told HuffPost that the 

department has multiple lineups for target practice. 

Some feature only white men, others are all Latino 

and one features photos of only women. "The public 

thinks there should be one woman and one white man and one black, but that's not really what test is about," 

Katerman said. "We have targets of all races."

Police Chief Scott Dennis told NBC South Florida that 

officers used poor judgment. No one would be 

punished, however, Dennis said. The misstep was 

reminiscent of a flap in 2013 over a Port Canaveral, 

Florida police sergeant who was fired for distributing 

targets of Trayvon Martin for shooting practice. Martin 

was the 17-year-old unarmed teenager who was 

followed and fatally shot by George Zimmerman in 

February 2012. For a more detailed report, visit NBC 

South Florida.