Police officials in Shreveport, Louisiana have admitted that the town's "saggy pants" law has had an overwhelmingly negative impact on Black residents.

The Shreveport Police Department said that since 2007, 726 people have been arrested for breaking the "saggy pants" law. Of those arrested, 712 were Black. The Shreveport Times reported this week that 699 arrests were of Black men and 13 were of Black women.

On Tuesday, Shreveport City Councilwoman LeVette Fuller said the law was unconstitutional and pushed forward legislation to have it repealed.

“It concerns me that we have a law that is unconstitutional in regards to freedom of expression. We don’t legislate people leaving the beach, lake or pool in a bikini, only this particular form of clothing," she said.

"We’re not legislating skinheads or bikers.”

The law has always been problematic for the town's Black residents, but caused national waves in February when Anthony Childs was shot and killed by police after he was stopped for having saggy pants.

Since Childs' death, community members have been outraged at the Shreveport Police Department for repeatedly changing their story concerning Childs' shooting. Police initially said Childs shot himself in the chest before other officers also fired at him and hit him in the chest.

Last week, they came out and revised that answer and said it was unclear whether Childs shot himself before or after he had been shot by police at the scene.

At a local church last week, Black residents were furious at the confusing answers they got from the police chief and coroner.

They originally said officers fired three shots at Childs, but later changed that number to seven when pressed on it by The Shreveport Times. They changed their answer again last week, saying the shots occurred in three separate volleys. A new video of the incident has audio of many shots being fired at Childs by police, adding even more questions to their version of events.

Community members at the church meeting and the latest City Council meeting said it was a travesty that Childs died the way he did over how far his pants sagged down his legs. An amendment was added to the law that barred police officers from using it to arrest or search anyone.

The Shreveport Police Department said on Tuesday that their records showed the law had been used to arrest Black people.

"Since 2007, 726 individuals have been issued a summons or have been taken into custody for violating City Ordinance 50-167," Public Information Officer Christina Curtis told The Shreveport Times on May 22. But they changed their answer when pressed on it.

"We don't believe anyone was booked directly into the city jail solely for sagging. We have to read through 726 reports to know that for sure," Curtis later said.

Fuller introduced the amendment to remove the law on May 28 and the city council will decide in two weeks whether it will be moved forward.

“We’re profiling people based on the way they dress," Fuller told local news outlet KNOE News.

“Being able to say out loud that someone was stopped or detained because legally they were not dressed appropriately is an issue. We shouldn’t give police the ability to look at a human body the same way you look at a broken tail light."

Anthony-Childs

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