Some police departments never learn their lessons. After anti-police sentiments led to violent demonstrations across different cities in the U.S. and led to the shooting of two NYPD cops while seated inside their patrol as a result of the death of several blacks in the hands of white cops, they still apparently view blacks as criminals.

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Proof of this is the discovery by Sgt. Valerie Deant, a Florida woman who is a clarinist of the Florida Army National Guard band, while visiting a shooting range in North Miami Beach for her yearly weapons certification, that the cops there use the mug shots of black men for their shooting target practices.

To her aghast, one of the faces on the shooting range was that of her brother, reports NBC 6. Her brother, Wood Deant, was arrested in 2000 for drag racing when he was 18 and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Since his release, Wood said he has reformed and has become a father, a husband and a career man who works in a 9-to-5 job.

But North Miami Beach Police Chief J. Scott Dennis even defended the use of mug shots of black men who have been arrested and booked. He said the practice is not considered racial profiling, no policies were breached and no officers would be sanctioned.

Capt. Jack Young, manager of the shooting range, said that renters of the shooting range select their targets, reports Time.

However, Dennis acknowledged that better judgment could have been used. Dennis banned officers from shooting at images of people they had arrested, although that would still mean the mug shots of those booked would remain available at the shooting range.

In contrast, other state and federal law enforcement agencies that have SWAT teams or snipers use commercially produced targets during their practice sessions.

TagsFlorida, Target Shooting, anti-police sentiment, racial profiling