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Civil Rights Groups Urge Miami-Dade Police To Publicly Disavow Officer's
Views on Police Beating
September 27, 2000
Miami - The Miami-Dade Chapter of the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union mailed a letter today to top Miami-Dade law enforcement and political officials urging them to repudiate the views expressed by Miami-Dade Police Officer Vic Fernandez with regard to the recent chase and apprehension of Jerome McClellion.
The two-page letter to Carlos Alvarez, Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, Mayor Alex Penelas and County Manager Merritt Stierheim was sent in response to a "Letter to the Editor" written by Officer Fernandez and published on September 22 in The Miami Herald. Officer Fernandez states in his "Reader's Forum" statement that McClellion "deserved what he got, and more." He goes on to say that officers are justified in administering beatings because they are involved in stressful situations and must "vent in some way."
In their jointly authored letter, Bishop Victor T. Curry, President of the Miami-Dade Chapter of the NAACP, John De Leon, President of the Greater Miami Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, and ACLU of Florida Legal Director Randall C. Marshall express concern that Officer Fernandez' deeply-troubling message, which condones police brutality, may be interpreted as the official view of the Miami-Dade Police Department.
