Officials Call For Orlando Police Chief's Resignation Over Lynum Letter
POSTED: Friday, June 23, 2006
UPDATED: 12:45 am EDT June 23,
2006
Several elected black officials in Central Florida are calling for the resignation of Orlando's police chief, according to Local 6 News.
At a local black caucus meeting Thursday, a situation with Orlando Commissioner Daisy Lynum was brought to the floor.
Lynum said her son, Juan Lynum, 30, was unfairly targeted in a traffic stop by an officer in May.
During the traffic stop, Lynum called his mother and allegedly said he must have been stopped by a white police officer because of racial profiling, Local 6 News reported.
"Daisy Lynum later made the comment that she did not want 'some white boy shooting my son or Tasing him,'" Local 6 reporter Chris Trenkmann said.
Orlando Police Chief Michael McCoy then wrote Lynum a letter and said her comments have hurt morale at the department.
The caucus decided to draft a letter to Orlando's mayor calling for McCoy's resignation.
The reason it cited was that McCoy's letter of reprimand against Lynum "went overboard."
The caucus said it has a lack of confidence in McCoy's ability to resolve this situation.
"Well, he ought to resign, first of all. That is how you make it right and have Buddy Dyer hire somebody else who's not going to racially profile elected officials who happen to be black as well as their constituents," State Sen. Gary Siplin said.
The letter is expected to be delivered to the mayor by Friday afternoon.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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