Metro Police stand guard inside a barricade posted at an entrance to Downtown Summerlin on Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Las Vegas, during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, who died May 25 after he was pinned at the neck by a Minneapolis police officer.
Tuesday, June 23, 2020 | 3:55 p.m.
Metro Police say they will communicate more with legal observers of protests and communicate more with protesters about dispersal orders after the department received complaints for arrests it made in recent weeks.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that it is making the changes after meeting with several groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and Black Lives Matter.
The police department has received complaints for arrests it has made, including the arrests of several journalists and at least six legal observers, as officers worked at more than 80 protests in recent weeks over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes.
The department said if it issues any dispersal order to protesters, police will communicate the order from multiple directions so people can hear it more easily. Officers will also give protesters a clear path to leave the area.
The department says a dispersal order is issued when illegal activity, such as impeding traffic or damaging property, occurs and then all people, including protesters who are participating legally, must leave the area.
