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Grand Opening of ACLU of Florida's Greater Miami Chapter Neighborhood Resource Center
Panel discussion on excessive use of force by police following ceremony
May 10, 2001
LIBERTY CITY - The Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU of Florida, in cooperation with the grassroots organization Brothers of the Same Mind, will open a Neighborhood Resource Center in Liberty City on May 12 that will provide volunteer assistance to members of the community.
Volunteers affiliated with the Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU of Florida will be available once a week to offer general advice, along with help in filing police misconduct complaints that deal with racial profiling, police harassment or the excessive use of force by police. Volunteers also will help ex-offenders with the lengthy and complicated process of applying for the restoration of their civil rights. The center will also provide a location for regular forums on issues of concern to the community.
The center will be open from 1 to 3 p.m. on the first and third Saturday of each month and from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Brothers of the Same Mind building, 4055 NW 17th Avenue.
There will be a brief presentation on the planned work of the Neighborhood Resource Center, followed by a community discussion on the issue of police-community relations and the use of excessive force by police in light of the recent shooting by Miami Police of unarmed 18-year-old Nick Singleton. Invited participants include: Miami Mayor Joe Carollo, Florida Senator Kendrick Meek, Miami-Dade Commissioners Barbara Carey-Shuler and Betty Ferguson. Several county and city police officers also have been asked to participate in the discussion.
Who: The Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU of Florida and Brothers of the Same Mind, a Liberty City-based organization
What: Opening of the Neighborhood Resource Center and a community discussion on the issue of police-community relations and the use of excessive force by police
When: Saturday, May 12, 2001, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Where: 4055 NW 17th Avenue in Liberty City (Brothers of the Same Mind Building)
Why: To provide free volunteer assistance once a week to community members; improve police-community relations , provide a space for forums on civil liberties issues.
Contact: Brothers of the Same Mind: Leroy Jones or Max Rameau at (305) 756-0506; ACLU of Florida: Alessandra Soler or John de Leon (305) 576-2337
