Fight Back News Service is circulating this statement from the Tallahassee Community Action Committee.

On Nov. 16th, Florida Police Benevolent Association Big Bend Chapter, which represents TPD officers, called for the removal of Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB) member Taylor Biro. PBA Chapter President Richard Murphy targeted Biro over a sticker on her coffee mug which reads “Abolish the Police,” but has been consistently misreported as saying “F**k the Police”. Murphy decried that her mug promoted an “inappropriate, incendiary, and anti-police message”, and called for her immediate removal from the CPRB.

The CPRB is a City-appointed board of citizens meant to provide community oversight of the Tallahassee Police Department. What each member brings to the table is a unique viewpoint on the actions and functions of policing, and collectively they are integral to establishing community oversight that is otherwise absent. Biro represents the views of many members of our community. The PBA does not get to pick and choose which viewpoints are allowed on the Board simply because they disagree or find them contrary to their goals. To do so would defeat the purpose of the review board.

Over the course of her career, Taylor Biro has been responsible for training hundreds of officers on trauma-informed policing, co-authored a part of a statewide law requiring officers to be trauma-informed and culturally responsive, and wrote the curriculum that FDLE uses on trauma related to sexual violence. She is an extremely valuable member of the board and should not be unfairly removed over political beliefs that many in the community share and want to see represented on the CPRB.

In a city where officers lie about and misrepresent events, attend and speak at anti-LGBTQ+ conferences, and murder with anonymity under Marsy’s law, it is essential to have members who will hold officers accountable for their actions. The Tallahassee Community Action Committee stands in unwavering support of Taylor Biro.

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