Miami Gardens, FL – In the city of Miami Gardens, with a population of around 110,000 people, a six-month Fusion TV investigation revealed that 99,980 people were stopped and 56,922 people were “Stopped and Frisked” between 2008 and 2013. This number includes 8,489 children and 1,775 senior citizens. Attorney Stephan Lopez, who has filed a lawsuit against the city, claims that a quota system was set up by the “higher ups” and officers in supervisory positions and the other officers followed those orders.

In an interview with CNN, a former officer wishing to remain anonymous claimed that officers were instructed in a roll call to stop all black males between the ages of 15 and 30 years old. Officers were instructed to do so because they were told that black males between the ages of 15 and 30 “were the criminal element within the city of Miami Gardens.” Current Miami Gardens police Chief Stephen Johnson said it’s a fact that most crimes in the city are committed by young black males because the city has a predominantly African-American population. Chief Johnson replaced former Chief Matthew Boyd after Boyd resigned.

Chief Johnson says that officers were under the impression that to get into special units they needed to have high numbers of “stop and frisks”. He did say that officers told him that they were told to stop black males to make those quotas.