LAKELAND, Fla. — The Lakeland Police Department has released a statement following a community rally over the weekend.
Church leaders and community activists were joined by a high-profile attorney representing several clients who claim they’ve been brutalized by Lakeland police officers.
The statement from LPD says that Chief Sam Taylor and top leadership at Lakeland PD meet frequently with community and religious leaders about their concerns.
The department goes on to say the most recent meeting was held just last week.
Still, it’s clear some community activists want more than that now that they have a well-known high-profile legal group in their corner.
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Attorney Bobby DiCello, whose law firm has sued several police agencies around the country in cases of alleged police brutality addressed the crowd on Sunday, saying the time for talk at Lakeland PD is over
“These empty promises of change, these empty promises of a community that can work together, are over,” DiCello said. “I promise you that the work we will do together will change this. As we've changed in other cities that we've been in. New legislation. New oversight requirements for your police department. That's on the way.”
Also attending Sunday’s rally were several alleged victims who accused Lakeland police of brutalizing them.
They included 16-year-old Jahmal Hudson whose Memorial Day confrontation with two offers punching and then tasing him went viral before charges against the teen were dropped.
Antwan Glover was also in attendance. A similar video shows Glover being punched and tased by Lakeland police following a traffic stop.
Charges against Glover were dropped just weeks earlier.
“We call for the establishment of an elected community commission on community, safety and accountability and to extend the power of the current civilian review board,” Valentina Beron with the Tampa Alliance Against Political and Racist Repression said.
“We demand a meeting with the chief of police of the city of Lakeland,” DiCello said. “And we demand that he sits and confronts what his officers have done.”
There has been no timetable set for when such a meeting, or such policy reviews, might take place.
The response from Lakeland PD also cites open dialogue and direct communication over the years, which the agency says has built solid relationships with neighborhoods and the citizens it serves.
But it's clear many of those citizens no longer believe that dialogue is enough.
The Lakeland Police Department also says its arrest of Antwan Glover in December of 2022 was reviewed by two outside agencies, the FDLE and the Polk County State Attorney's office. In that case, prosecutors concluded the actions of the officers involved were lawful.
The case involving 16-year-old Jahmal Hudson, they said, is still under review.