ATLANTA - The ACLU of Georgia thanks Frank Rotondo, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, for withdrawing his organization's approval of the Islamophobic training scheduled for Thursday, March 8, 2018, at the Barrow County Sheriff's Office.
"Our brave law enforcement officers deserve the best and most credible training available," stated Andrea Young, Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia. "We are pleased that the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police agrees with us that training police officers to violate people's constitutional rights is wrong and will no longer approve of this inflammatory, hateful, and dangerous use of taxpayers' dollars."
As leaders of the law enforcement community, sheriffs and police chiefs should promote accurate and effective trainings for their staff, rather than those that promote unjust racial or religious profiling or offensive stereotypes. This program would teach law enforcement officers to treat Georgians differently based on their religion. Such prejudice contributes to an environment ripe for hate crimes and constitutional violations.
The sheriff's "training" may potentially violate the Constitution and is an affront to the professionalism of our brave men and women in uniform, the communities they have sworn to protect, and the taxpayers' dollars.
Despite the fact that the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police withdrew its approval, the Barrow County Sheriff's Office has yet to cancel its Islamophobic training.
