PALMETTO, Fla. — The family of Breonte Johnson-Davis is calling for change within the department less than one week after officers were cleared of wrongdoing.
Now, his family is calling for mental health professionals to respond to certain crises in place of officers.
"It would've saved his life," Tracey Washington, Johnson-Davis' mother, said.
Johnson-Davis' family and supporters took to the podium during Monday's city commission meeting.
The Palmetto Police Department responded to a disturbance call in November at a gas station. Police said a Taser was used twice while they attempted to detain Johnson-Davis. Several minutes later, Chief Scott Tyler said Johnson-Davis suffered from a medical episode and died at the hospital the next day.
The medical examiner's office report stated he died from cardiac arrest with a possible overdose.
"Until I get justice for Breonte, I won't sit down," Washington told the commission.
A handful of supporters also joined, denouncing how Palmetto police responded. They asked the commission to model the new program after St. Pete police's, which has social workers respond to certain calls of service including mental health crises and suicide prevention.
"The officers are using minimal force, they were mainly trying to wrestle with him to give his arms up to get him handcuffed when he would not comply when he would not comply we applied a Taser," Palmetto Police Chief Scott Tyler said of the response during last week's press conference.
Chief Tyler added it would be unnecessary to put the officers involved on administrative leave based on the bodycam footage. He also said they are a small department, mentioning there were five officers on the scene and there are 34 in his department.
Tyler stated he was unavailable for an interview regarding Johnson-Davis' family request for a similar CALL program.
Johnson-Davis' mother said she will keep demanding change within the department before anyone else gets hurt.
"I'll be like the mother of Emmett Till. I'll fight 'til the day I die until I get justice for Breonte," she said.