Officials in Bridgeport, Connecticut, announced on Sunday that the Bridgeport Police Department suspended two detectives over their handling of the death investigations for two Black women, Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls, USA Today reports.
Mayor Joseph Ganim publicly acknowledged the victims' families in a news release, saying he is "extremely disappointed with the leadership of the Bridgeport Police Department and find actions taken up to this point unacceptable," according to a statement released by the city.
"The Bridgeport Police Department has high standards for officer sensitivity especially in matters involving the death of a family member," the mayor said. "It is an unacceptable failure if policies were not followed."
Ganim also announced that he and the police chief are making departmental policy changes to how police authorities contact the families of victims, NPR reports.
Two officers were put on administrative leave and another resigned.
The ongoing public outrage over the police department's handling of Smith-Fields' case forced Ganim to demand that the two officers, identified as Detective Kevin Cronin and Detective Angel Llanos, be placed on administrative leave, NBC News reports.
The two officers are being investigated by internal affairs and will face consequences "for lack of sensitivity to the public and failure to follow police policy in the handling of these two matters."
The mayor also noted that the supervisory officer that was the lead on both cases retired on Friday from the department. The cases for Smith-Fields and Rawls, who both died on Dec. 12, were transferred to other officers.
Smith-Fields' family held a protest to pressure the police department to investigate her death.
Smith-Fields, 23, was found dead in her apartment after meeting an "older white man" on Bumble, her family said, according to Insider.
Her family held a community protest on Jan. 23 against the Bridgeport Police Department for their callus response concerning Smith-Fields death.
disappointed by the lack of media coverage about the death of Lauren Smith-Fields. she was found dead in her apartment after a bumble date w an older white man, Matthew LaFountain, he was the last to see her alive, call 911 & he was NOT investigated #JusticeForLaurenSmithFields
pic.twitter.com/5t9oXyNJZT— ???????????? (@ashakiiii) January 24, 2022
The family described the police's behavior as "racially insensitive," Rolling Stone reports.
The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner attributed Smith-Field's death to acute intoxication from the effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol. However, the Bridgeport Police Department and the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration are working together to investigate her death, NBC News reports.
Rawls' family accused the police of mishandling the case of their loved one.
Dorothy Rawls Washington said her sister went to visit a man that lived nearby on Dec. 11, according to Insider. When her family was unable to contact her for several days, they went to the man's house, who informed them that she died two days before.
This is 53yo Brenda Rawls she died on the same day as Lauren smith- fields in Bridgeport Connecticut her cause of death has not yet been determined but Brenda told her family she was going out with a man she met online. 2days went by that they didn’t hear from her… ???????? pic.twitter.com/js2LS0bOcb
— Be.Gonzalez (@LADDY__BEE) January 31, 2022
The Rawls family also accused the police of failing to notify them of their loved one's passing. Rawls' cause of death is still under review, NBC News reports.
