WINDSOR, Va.(WRIC) — The Isle of Wight NAACP is calling for the immediate resignation of Windsor’s Chief of Police, Rodney Riddle, in response to a press conference he held on Wednesday.
“After watching the press conference held by Windsor’s officials on April 14, 2021, we were appalled by the statements and subsequent actions by town officials as well as the Chief of Police,” said Valerie Butler President of the Isle of Wight Chapter of the NAACP, in a prepared statement.
The group called for Riddle to step down earlier this week in a Facebook post, but this new document expands on the NAACP’s grievance’s with the town and police department’s response to the traffic stop incident, as well as makes requests to prevent an incident like that from occurring again in the future.
In the letter, the local chapter of the NAACP say they think chief Riddle “has been complicit in this entire situation.” For example, the group says even though Riddle said “disciplinary action was taken” Officers Daniel Crocker and Joe Gutierrez were allowed to stay on the job.
“Chief Riddle admitted the only reason he terminated Officer Gutierrez was due to the video
going viral,” the NAACP said in its letter. “This leads our community to wonder if any disciplinary actions were taken against the officers on January 28, 2021, as originally stated by the Chief of Police.”
The group is now asking for the following from the Town of Windsor:
- They want the Windsor Police Department’s January 2021 newly implemented department wide training manual.
- A timeline of when the city will implement a Citizens Review Board.
- For the department to hire an active duty African American patrol police officer.
“Let us be abundantly clear, this Chapter of the NAACP will not stand by ‘idly’ as oppression
and injustice occur to Army Lt. Caron Nazario and the Citizens of Windsor,” the NAACP said in its letter.
You can read the NAACP’s full statement below:
