Mug Shots for Gun Shots

While I was watching the news the other day, one of the anchors brought up a story about police officers in Miami. As I listened, I became extremely disappointed in these officers. When National Guard Sgt. Valerie Deant visited the Miami police's firearms training center, she was horrified when she noticed an old mugshot of her brother posted on the wall, a bullet hole piercing through his eye and forehead. This mugshot, taken back when Deant's brother was 18 years old, was being used for target practice. Five other photographs of black men appeared alongside her brother's mugshot, all used as targets by the Miami police.

The logic behind using these photographs for target practice is very flawed. Woody Deant, Valerie Deant's brother, is now 33 years old with a wife and children. After being arrested at the age of 18 for drag racing, he served four years in jail. Woody Deant hasn't been involved in crime since that incident. Yet, by using his old mugshot as a target, Miami police continue to portray him as a criminal. He is a real person, not just an ex-con. Deant and the five other men pictured above did not deserve to have their photographs used for target practice.

Alex Vaquez, a retired FBI agent, agrees that the use of real people's photographs as targets was not appropriate: “The police have different options for targets. I think the police have to be extra careful and sensitive to some issues that might be raised.” If the police run into Woody Deant out in Miami, they will have his image ingrained in their minds as a target they need to shoot. The police also clearly seem to be targeting blacks as the people they need to shoot down. Using these images as targets will almost definitely translate into targeting African Americans in real life. This racism needs to stop. African Americans are people; they shouldn't be targeted and shot just because of their skin color. By using photographs of black men as targets for shooting practice, the real danger to society appears to be the Miami police.