Community activists in Greenville call for the city's police chief's resignation
Several Greenville community activists have called for the resignation of the city's police chief.
During a press conference outside the Greenville City Public Safety Complex on April 18, Derrick Quarles, Bruce Wilson, and Paul Guy questioned how officers under internal investigation are allowed to quit and move to another agency, potentially creating future public safety issues. They also cited a lack of diversity within the department.
In calling for Greenville Police Chief Howie Thompson's job, Quarles, who ran for Greenville County Council District 25 in 2024, said the chief isn't who the city needs to lead the department.
"People call me from this agency all the time. They're sick and tired. Chief Thompson has got to resign," Quarles said. "He is not leading this agency effectively."
Thompson declined to comment on the demand that he step aside or questions about officer resignations and the department's diversity.
According to documents that show why officers left the department, at least four Greenville police officers resigned in 2022 while under an internal investigation. Those same officers joined other law enforcement agencies and received recommendations from police department officials.
"This practice hides misconduct. It protects the careers of these officers, and it leaves our community exposed. It's not just negligence. This is unethical, and it's really dangerous," Quarles said.
Quarles said it's an accountability issue and not an anti-police issue.
"Time and time again, when an officer violates policy and breaks the law, they should not be allowed to resign and continue to work in law enforcement. They should be held accountable, just like any of us are," Quarles said.
According to the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, if an officer remains at the department during the internal investigation and is found guilty, the police agency must report the officer to the Justice Academy. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Training Council in Columbia would then judge the officer's case.
More: Looking for an Easter egg hunt for the kids? Check out this list from Upstate communities
If the Law Enforcement Council votes the officer guilty, the officer can no longer return to law enforcement.
Wilson, another community activist who spoke during the press conference, said that officers who are allowed to do wrong will continue to do so if they are not reprimanded.
"It creates an unsafe neighborhood for all of us," he said.
The group also said the Greenville Police Department needs to do better in terms of having a diverse police force.
In 2021, data obtained by The Greenville News through the Freedom of Information Act and the latest data available, the department was 87.5% white, 7.2% Black, 3.8% Hispanic, and 1.4% Asian, American Indian or native Alaskan. The city's population is about 20.5% Black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Wilson said if law enforcement wants a good relationship with the community, its staff must mirror the people they protect.
"Having an individual that looks like you, having an individual that you can have a dialogue with, it is beneficial. It's helpful," Wilson said.
He further criticized the police department and said they're not making an effort to consider Black job candidates.
"We're not saying that you should hire just anybody because they're African American or Black," Wilson said. "You hire people that are qualified. What we're saying the problem is you're not even looking, you're not even trying, you're not making the attempt. There are a host of people that look like me, that are qualified."
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville activists criticize city's police; call for chief to quit
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How 'Will Trent' star Ramón Rodriguez became an industry game-changer
ABC's "Will Trent" is no ordinary police procedural. "There's a thousand cop shows," said Ramón Rodriguez, who portrays the show's main character, Will Trent. "How do you make this one stand out?" The broadcast drama series, which also airs on Hulu, centers special agent Trent: a dapper investigator whose instinctual crime-solving skills render him essential to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. But beneath the three-piece suit, there's a more complex side to Trent, who navigates the residual trauma from being abandoned at birth and growing up in the Atlanta foster care system. He is also dyslexic. "One of the exciting things when I came onto the show was not knowing where this character was from," said Rodriguez, 45. "Trent was very much [written as] a colorless character." Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Rodriguez greeted me on a Zoom call from his present home in Southern California, while wearing a New York Knicks cap. Before "Will Trent," he previously played the first main Hispanic character on the HBO series "The Wire," and appeared in films such as 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "G20," a thriller featuring Viola Davis, which premiered April 10 on Amazon Prime Video. Since the 2023 premiere of "Will Trent," Rodriguez has molded his beloved character in many ways; he's a hard-nosed detective with a mushy side, which is most evident in scenes with his pocket-sized chihuahua named Betty. Based on Karin Slaughter's New York Times-bestselling novel series "Will Trent," showrunners Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen organically tailored the titular role to reflect Rodriguez's real-life Puerto Rican identity. It's a major win for Latinos in an industry that otherwise lacks Latino-led programming. "Once we run out of feeling fresh, creative, excited and inspired, then I think we start phoning it in," said Rodriguez. "But that's something I'm not interested in and I know my partners aren't either." Rodriguez has taken on roles behind the camera as well. He directed "I'm a Guest Here," the first episode of Season 3, which wrapped earlier this month; he was also named an executive producer. "I really wanted to be a part of the creative collaboration of creating this character in this show," said Rodriguez. When Season 3 dropped a bombshell regarding Trent's biological father, it paved the way for a nail-biting Season 4, which was confirmed earlier this year. This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity. It also reveals Season 3 spoilers. In the books, Will Trent isn't Puerto Rican, but this series is peeking into your own Puerto Rican identity. What are your thoughts on that? It was a topic that they were curious about exploring. Where does Will come from as an orphan who grew up in the foster care system? Identity becomes a focal point for someone like that. Again [him being Puerto Rican] isn't in the books, which is kind of exciting. We've been able to separate and say that the books are the books. It wasn't something that we were trying to sort of check a box and say, "Great, Will's heritage is Puerto Rican." It was a very organic explanation of this character discovering who he is. When you were cast for the lead, did you ever picture the show as what it is today? You never know what's gonna work and why it's gonna work. You don't have control of a lot of things in this business. The one thing I do have control over is my work, what I can bring to it, what I try to do. This is the first time I've been on a show that's gone on for this long from the pilot. If you would've asked me that, is this gonna be the show that goes past one season? I probably would've said, "I don't think so." And it's nothing against the show, you just don't know. It took a minute for me to be fully convinced, but I'm so grateful that they were willing to continue having conversations with me and that they were really willing to have me on as a partner because that was important to me. It doesn't feel like the show hinges on those elements of identity. Why is it important to keep that balance in this procedural show? [Solving cases is] another aspect of the show that I know audiences love. I just think the things that tend to pull our hearts to the things that are emotional and personal things, what someone's struggling with or how are they overcoming it. In Season 3, we have a really pivotal moment where Will accidentally shoots a bad guy, but ends up killing a young boy by accident. That case ended up changing the rest of the season — he was not able to recover from that event of having the boy die in his arms. That was Episode 11 and that will likely go into Season 4. Your dog Betty also shines in Season 3. We get to hear her voice for the first time which happens during a fun hallucination scene. What was it like to film that episode? That was two episodes after this tragic episode I just described, which is crazy, right? We wanted to mix levity and humor with our heavy drama and emotional stuff. So as Will was entering this case that involved a cult, he gets caught undercover and in that process he gets drugged. Liz Heldens, one of our showrunners, had been dying to find a way to get me to dance on this show, and I was like "Listen: Will Trent is an awkward individual, he's not someone that's out here dancing." She was like, "Well, what if that's a hallucination?" I was like, "That's brilliant!" Anything can happen while he's tripping. I remember I was walking on set and one of our production assistants, Tim, had read the script and said, "What if Betty talks?" So I pitched that to Liz and she topped it and went, "Well, what if Betty's British?" You made your directorial debut in Season 3. How was that experience for you? I felt like a kid in a candy store. By Season 3, I really understood the character and what works with our show, where our strengths are. I just got to be me in certain scenes, because at the start of the [third] season Will has left the [Georgia Bureau of Investigation], he's got a beard and he's in a T-shirt, jeans and curly hair. It was also fun to direct new cast members. We introduced Gina Rodriguez, who played Marion Alba, and Antwayn Hopper, who played Rafel Wexford. Which was really fun. I'd be like: "No notes." [Laughs.] Will you be directing in Season 4? I will definitely be directing at least one episode next season. It makes the most sense for me to direct the premiere as I did this past season. I love that pressure of having to set the bar for a season. What can audiences expect for the upcoming season? We're about to begin these serious conversations. There were some pretty serious cliffhangers at the end of Season 3, where we find out Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen) is pregnant, and Will is definitely not the father, so that's gonna be something to explore. Amanda Wagner (Sonja Sohn), who is a maternal figure for Will, is in the hospital bed. We just discovered his dad, [Sheriff Caleb Roussard], which we don't know too much about, so I'd want to know more about the character and what happened with the mom. There's just so many questions that we will get to explore — I mean, is there new love in Will's life? Get our Latinx Files newsletter for stories that capture the complexity of our communities. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
If Atlanta Is a Black Mecca, Why Are 8 Out of 10 Homeless People Black?
Forty-seven percent of Atlanta residents are Black, but the city commonly referred to as the Black Mecca had a homeless population in January that was 80% Black, according to the latest Point-In-Time homelessness census count released on Monday. Of equal concern, on Jan. 27, the city logged 131 homeless families, an 18% rise from the same month last year. Roughly 90% of the individuals in those families were Black, down about 2 points from 2024. Like many cities in America, Atlanta has seen an increase in homelessness — primarily fueled by Black people living on the margins — for a third consecutive year. But city leaders and advocates alike are touting that the rate of increase has slowed considerably. The annual survey of homeless people in the metro area revealed a 1% rise in Atlanta's overall homeless population. The city saw a 7% year-over-year increase in 2024, and a 33% surge in 2023. The results from this year's PIT count show the city's homeless crisis appears to be 'stabilizing,' according to Cathryn Vassell, CEO of Partners for HOME — the nonprofit that manages Atlanta's PIT count on behalf of the federal government. Vassell told Capital B Atlanta that Black Atlantans remain overrepresented among individuals experiencing homelessness due to 'continued disproportionate inequities' in the metro area. The stark disparity underscores the ongoing economic challenges and affordable housing crisis many Black people face in a gentrifying metropolis fueled by a booming economy that has become known as the most unequal city in America. 'We know that there is gross income inequality that is disproportionate racially in our community as well,' Vassell said. 'That is all contributing to the disproportionate representation of people of color in our system.' The PIT count data showed Atlanta's higher cost of living has fueled a sizable rise in the city's number of homeless families this year despite signs that municipal leaders have reached a turning point in their battle to provide housing to people living on the margins. Read More: Atlanta's Largest Homeless Encampment Is About to Be Cleared The nearly 27% rate of consumer price inflation in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro area between January 2020 and August 2024 was the third highest in the nation, according to a Pew Research study released in October. The fact that 8 out of 10 homeless people are Black in a city known as a Black Mecca should 'stop everyone in their tracks.' Liliana Bakhtiari, Atlanta City Council member '[The data] is a signal that the house is still on fire, and the scale of the crisis is bigger than what cities alone can handle,' Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari told Capital B Atlanta after attending a briefing on this year's PIT count last week. The fact that 8 out of 10 homeless people are Black in a city known as a Black Mecca should 'stop everyone in their tracks,' according to Bakhtiari. 'That's not a coincidence, that's the product of a system that's failed Black families for generations — due to redlining, due to wage discrimination, due to mass incarceration, due to unequal access to healthcare and education,' she added. 'Homelessness isn't just a housing problem. It's a justice problem.' The report noted the strides the city has made addressing homelessness in recent years, citing that the overall homeless population has declined 30% since 2016 and about 11% since 2020 despite increasing for the past three years. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has made increasing affordable housing and combatting homelessness two of his signature issues since taking office almost four years ago. Last year, the Atlanta City Council allocated $60 million at Dickens' request to addressing the growing homelessness problem. Those funds, Vassell said, are paying for construction of 500 rapid housing units for the homeless, including 40 apartments at the Melody Project, located in southern downtown Atlanta, and 23 at the Bonaventure, both of which opened last year. Dickens' office hasn't responded to requests for comment. Read More: Revamped Motel Gives Atlanta Unhoused Second Chance— But for How Long? 'By the end of the year we will have brought on 500 units from that $60 million,' Vassell said. Unfortunately, Vassell warns, the progress Atlanta has made housing its homeless population could be undone later this year if President Donald Trump advances his plan for significant budget cuts. The Trump administration has proposed cutting rental aid by 40% in its 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' which the U.S. House approved in May. Vassell called the proposed cuts 'terrifying' and said it could eliminate Atlanta's permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs funded through the city's Continuum of Care resources. As many as 2,000 people could lose stable housing, according to Vassell. 'This would be a tragic impact across our community,' she said. The post If Atlanta Is a Black Mecca, Why Are 8 Out of 10 Homeless People Black? appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jamie Foxx Has One Question For Sean Combs in Midst of N.Y. Racketeering Trial: ‘Why You So Nasty, Diddy?'
Jamie Foxx is not pulling punches when it comes to his thoughts on the Sean 'Diddy' Combs' New York sex trafficking and racketeering trial. During a recent appearance at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the actor/singer lashed out at the disgraced former music mogul who he once honored at Diddy's 2008 Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony. 'Diddy is fu–in' crazy, huh?' Foxx said in footage shared by Urban Hollywood. 'I don't know if he is going to jail, but he is a nasty motherf–er. Am I right? Especially for us… white people like, 'It's cool,' but for Black people… that was our hero. All that g–damn baby oil, boy! Why you so nasty, Diddy?' When officers raided Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami last March prosecutors said they found drugs as well as more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant and baby oil. More from Billboard 50 Cent Keeps His Promise by Posting the 'Really Bad' Things Diddy Has Said About Donald Trump Jessie J Reveals 'Early Breast Cancer' Diagnosis: 'Cancer Sucks in Any Form' Big Thief Announce New Album, 'Double Infinity' The comments from Foxx about the shocking testimony in the Combs trial in reference to the rapper's marathon 'Freak Off' sex parties is relevant because in 2023 rumors circulated that Combs allegedly poisoned Foxx, leading to the actor's hospitalization for what was later confirmed to be a stroke. Foxx opened up about the rumors surrounding his mystery illness last month in a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, shooting down the allegations that Diddy tried to have him killed via poisoning. 'I'm in f—ing perfect shape. [I saw things like,] 'Puffy tried to kill me.' No, Puffy didn't try to kill me. When they said I was a clone, that made me flip,' Foxx said. 'I'm sitting in the hospital bed, like, 'These b—h-a– motherf—ers are trying to clone me.'' While a spokesperson for Combs did not reply to Billboard's request for a comment on the allegations, his team has repeatedly said the rumor was false and unfounded. Foxx also addressed the allegations in his What Had Happened Was… Netflix special in December, in which he said, 'The internet said Puffy was trying to kill me, that's what the internet was saying. I know what you thinking, 'Diddy?' Hell no, I left them parties early. I was out by 9. 'Something don't look right… it looks slippery in here!' The Combs trial is in its fourth week and on Wednesday (June 4) Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Diddy's ex, prosecution star witness Cassie Ventura, alleged that Diddy dangled her over a 17th-floor apartment balcony in 2016 before shoving her into the balcony's furniture. Combs is facing five criminal counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution, charges that could land him in prison for the rest of his life; Combs has denied the allegations against him. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
