Roughly 100 Miami Gardens residents and supporters held a town hall meeting at Bethany Baptist Church on Saturday to spread awareness of the fatal police-involved shooting of Lavalle Hall last week.
Hall, who was schizophrenic, was fatally shot by a Miami Gardens police officer after his mother dialed 911 for help.
“It's a call to action, to seek justice, to move forward with a plan on how we are going to hold Miami Gardens Police Department accountable,” Jasmen Rogers said.
The Miami Gardens community says they are discontent with their police department and want to do something about it.
“What does your voice say? It's not that we don't like the police,” Pastor Clive Rogers said.
“I’m scared they're going to kill me if I dial 911,” an unidentified North Miami resident said at the meeting.
“Out of all this, let’s bring something to bring about change,” Pastor Rogers said.
After sharing their grievances, members of the meeting shared their experience on a timeline using post it notes.
“Once Miami Gardens Police took over is when we saw a really big shift, so I think that's a key point to talk about,”
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Residents believe there is a rise in crime in their area.
In January, Miami Gardens Police Chief Stephen Johnson wrote to NBC 6.
“Miami Gardens has experienced a 45% reduction in homicides as compared to 2013, and the highest annual reduction since our department’s inception.”
Among the most recent shootings, was Hall’s death. Police say they had to kill him because he hurt an officer with a broom stick and didn’t follow instructions.
“They could have restrained that child or shot him in the leg, but they didn't have to kill him,” Shantell Brown, a Miami Gardens resident said.
