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Buffalo NAACP president seeks changes for policing

Hopes to improve relations between police and community in wake of protests

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rev. Mark Blue, the president of the Buffalo Chapter of the NAACP says he was there in Niagara Square on Saturday and like many he expected it would be a peaceful protest. 

He hoped it would express their message of seeking an end to police brutality and guaranteeing fair treatment for all. But as more of an observer in this case, he saw things going wrong and was worried. He especially noticed some demonstrators carrying a certain treatment for eye irritation. 

"I observed individuals coming to that demonstration already with gallons of milk anticipating an uprising," Blue said. "Anticipating tear gas. Anticipating a civil disturbance. And I was very perplexed by that because it was advertised as a peaceful demonstration. There were individuals not from our community who incited this type of violence."

Rev. Blue says he hopes to set up a new demonstration for Buffalo with local clergy members, unions and other civil rights organizations to press for certain demands with city leaders. For example ending choke holds or kneeing and giving the existing citizen police advisory board more power to review the records of police officers cited for alleged wrongdoing. 

"We want to make sure at the end of the protest we sit at the table and meet to discuss these things and we come to resolve for fair treatment." Blue said. "We want again to look at how policing is being done. We want better policing."

Council President Darius Pridgen told 2 On Your Side he is willing to discuss such matters with Blue. 

President Thomas Evans of the Buffalo Patrolman's Benevolent Association has concerns that reviews of an officer's record my be tainted unfairly with relatively minor infractions unrelated to actual accusations against them.

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