Greeneville Police Department face backlash over Hispanic community meeting

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Greeneville Police Department is facing backlash following a Facebook post announcing a Hispanic community meeting.

The post, which outlined plans to discuss "rules of the road" with a translator present, quickly garnered over a thousand comments and shares.

Earlier this year, Greene County officials announced a collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants.

This announcement has fueled community concerns that the meeting could be an ICE roundup for immigrants.

In response to the negative feedback, the Greeneville Police Department issued a second announcement postponing the meeting. "The negativity toward the post and our department has overshadowed the intent of the meeting," the department said. "The response has shown us that there is work to be done in building relationships with our community that allows anyone to feel comfortable attending a public meeting."

Officials also stated, "The first installment of rules of the road was scheduled with a Spanish language translator to offer accessibility to a wider range of participants."

The department has indicated that they will continue to work on improving community relations and accessibility for future events.