The deaths of Black women Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls have caused lawmakers in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to propose legislation that will ensure the families of people found dead will be notified promptly.
Black officers and the local NAACP chapter are calling for federal oversight of the Bridgeport police department that failed to investigate the deaths of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Rawls. The department was under federal supervision from 1983 - 2010 for widespread discrimination.
Lauren Smith-Fieds' mother, Shantell Fields, is speaking out about what she calls the "biggest misconception regarding her daughter's death. And the Bridgeport Police Department has a history of corruption that goes beyond the mishandling of Smith-Fields' and Brenda Lee Rawls' cases.
