Photos By
Duane C. Fernandez Sr.
Story By
Dyrell Johnson
This week was truly one for the record books. This past Wednesday evening, I attended a very important meeting of the Minority Elected Officials of Volusia County. The meeting took place in response to a local situation regarding local business owners and police officers in DeLand, Florida. From what we learned during the meeting, there was a planned block party that was held on Saturday evening from 2:00 to 10:00 PM, in honor of a deceased local community leader. The event, which has been held for the past nine years, has been celebrated respectfully and intertwined with local sheriff and police officers. However this year, the situation truly went left.
After the conclusion of the planned event, over 3,000 attendees descended upon DeLand and Spring Hill and chaos truly ensued. Reports have circulated that police and citizens got into physical altercations and left many businesses shut down and damaged. Due to Sheriff Chitwood's controversial statements about the event, it made national news. From ABC to CBS, DeLand, Florida was the headline story throughout the nation. During the meeting, several plans were made to address the community and police issues. It was announced that Randy Nelson, a specialist will be scheduled to come in and train the Volusia County Sheriff Office personnel on citizen and community relations. A press conference was held on Thursday to make this announcement.
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