FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A group of Fort Lauderdale Police officers and a civil rights organization are demanding accountability about what they described as a hostile work environment in the department and its leadership’s failure to address the situation.
Leaders with the NAACP joined members of the department’s Hispanic Police Officers Association and Black Police Officers Association at a news conference held Tuesday morning.
“It is unacceptable that in 2026, Latinos and African American officers are still confronted with situations rooted on bias, discrimination and unequal treatment,” said Jorge Felix Del Rosario with the Hispanic Police Officers Association.
At the center of these officers’ allegations is FLPD Officer Steven Poherence, who made headlines back in 2020 after he was seen on cellphone video shoving a kneeling Black Lives Matter demonstrator during a protest.
Poherence was charged with a misdemeanor battery charge but was acquitted by a jury.
The officers who are claiming a hostile workplace at FLPD said that late last year, the 12 officers who scored the highest in a sergeant’s test conducted by the department were Black and Hispanic, and they were subjected to allegations of cheating by Poherence.
These officers believe the police department didn’t do enough to shut down Poherence’s comments.
“Let me be clear: Racism, hostility and any form of unjust discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” said Del Rosario.
“The environment was not one that they had hoped for, not one that they expected, and one that is very concerning,” said Marsha Ellison, President of the NAACP’s Fort Lauderdale/Broward Branch.
Those who took part in the news conference are asking for an independent investigation, preferably by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, into their claims.
While no lawsuit has been filed, the officers making these claims said it is certainly an option. 7News has reached out to FLPD and the organizations who took part in Tuesday’s news conference for comment.
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