Florida State students call for change at campus police department

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Roughly 30 students at Florida State University marched across campus and stopped to rally outside the FSU Police Department headquarters on Monday.

The group was calling for change in Tallahassee and across the nation.

“We’re out here for the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd,” said Katherine Draken of Students for a Democratic Society.

Draken said she organized the event to join efforts across the country during a national day of protest. The event was a show of solidarity with Black Lives Matter and victims of police crimes on the first day of Chauvin’s trial.

Draken said the organization has been working on a local campaign to have a Civilian Police Accountability Council established for the campus police department and took the opportunity to introduce the specific guidelines to the crowd. The demands include disarming campus officers of service pistols, taking away their armored military vehicle and implementing a democratically elected civilian council that would oversee the hiring and firing of the chief and officers.

“It has not gotten a response from FSU PD as of yet, but we are going to continue to bring our demands to administration and FSU PD and continue to struggle until we see some sort of change,” Draken said.

WCTV reached out to FSU PD’s spokesperson Monday night but has not yet heard back.