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Entire SWAT team in Florida city resigns after police chief kneels with protesters
All 10 members of the SWAT team at the Hallandale Beach Police Department resigned on Friday in response to their police chief kneeling alongside protesters earlier this week.
In a memo addressed to Police Chief Sonia Quinones, the SWAT team members cited a number of grievances they had against their leader.
The officers complained that the team was "minimally equipped, under trained and restrained by the politicization of our tactics."
"The risk of carrying out our duties in this capacity is no longer acceptable to us and our families," the memo reads. "The anguish and stress of knowing that what we may be lawfully called upon to do in today's political climate combined with the team's current situation and several recent local events, leaves us in a position that is untenable."
The memo went on to accuse Quinones of "taking a knee in solidarity" with the city's Vice-Mayor Sabrina Javellana and other "political activists," calling the action "most shocking."City Manager Greg Chavarria reported that while the officers have stepped down from the SWAT team, they have not resigned from the police department.
Halladay Beach has a population of roughly 40,000.
