June 23 (UPI) — A police department in Georgia has apologized to the community after a life-sized image of a Black man was used for target practice during a firearms safety class for civilians.
The police department in Villa Rica, a city located about 30 miles west of Atlanta, held the firearms safety course on Saturday to teach “basic personal defense” and awareness and safe practices for the use of firearms. The department later shared since-deleted images that included the controversial target.
“The Villa Rica Police Department strives to be conscious of how our relationship with our community members has a direct impact on our effectiveness within the community we serve. This includes our stance on being equitable to all people regardless of their human diversity factors,” police said in a statement.
“The targets utilized in our recent firearms class depict realistic human images and were part of a package which included target images of people from various ethnic groups. It was never our intention to be insensitive, inflammatory, or offensive to anyone.”
After the department’s apology, Carroll County NAACP President Dominique Conteh sent a letter to Police Chief Michael Mansour calling the use of the targets “extremely offensive.”
“The posts showed that EVERY target used was a picture of a Black man. This ‘target’ is extremely offensive to many Villa Rica and Carroll County residents. These types of targets have been used by other police departments within the U.S. and have been deemed racially inappropriate and unacceptable,” Conteh said.
“The ‘apology’ statement from your department via Facebook displays a lack of sincerity, sensitivity toward minority residents and makes it abundantly clear that your department lacks the diversity, equity and inclusion training that all local officials should strive to participate in.”
According to NBC News, Villa Rica Mayor Gil McDougal has ordered an investigation into the police department.
In additional comments to NBC News, Mansour said the officer who posted the photos mistakenly only shared photos where the targets featuring a Black man were used.
Mansour did not name the officer but the news outlet reviewed photos of targets featuring White people that Mansour said were also used during the course.
“I’m very transparent in saying that we messed up,” Mansour said. “But at no time will I accept people telling me I’m a racist, or our department is a racist because we made a mistake.”
