Broward County Sheriff candidate Santiago Vazquez calls for the formation of a new task force to reduce instances of police brutality
Santiago Vazquez, Candidate for Sheriff of Broward County, released a video on Monday evening calling upon Florida law enforcement to implement a new accountability task force in response to recent incidents of police brutality and the subsequent protests that have been sparked across the country.
“The way we police has not changed in decades,” Vazquez said, “but it needs to change now.”
Vazquez is proposing a workable plan that changes the way officers interact on-the-scene with members of the public. At the center of this change is the creation of CART, the Community Awareness Response Team, a task force organized by local leadership, representatives of the state prosecutor and defense attorneys, local media outlets and civil rights action groups such as the ACLU.
CART will act at the behest of the public during questionable interactions between the police and citizens. CART’s role is to arrive quickly on the scene, contribute to transparency and advocate for the rights of all involved during the incident. The task force will continue to play a role in oversight of actions that take place after the incident.
Vazquez believes that now more than ever, the nation needs to confront its police brutality problem.
“I implore Florida Governor DeSantis, sheriffs of every county and police chiefs of every community to create local CART task forces,” Vazquez said. “I particularly urge Interim Sheriff Gregory Tony [of Broward County, FL] to start such a CART program immediately to de-escalate any incidents that occur in our community. The community needs to be heard. Enough is enough, the time to act is now before someone else gets injured or killed.”