Police chiefs group's apology to minorities sparks controversy

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - While he lifted up the bravery and sacrifice of the profession, Terrence Cunningham, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, acknowledged the role police have played in the mistreatment of communities of color it.

The words spoke directly to people like Nicole Bell, who called it too little too late. Bell and lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, the attorney who represented Bell's family as well as 17 other families who have lost a loved one at the hands of police, held the joint press conference at his Brooklyn office.

A decade years ago, Nicole's fiancé Sean was wrongfully shot and killed in a hail of gunfire by undercover NYPD officers the morning before his wedding. The officers involved were found not guilty. It was widely viewed as an example of excessive force.

Rubenstein talked about the role powerful police unions opposed to reform play and the need to make legislative changes, such as independent prosecutors for unarmed civilians killed by police and changes that need to be made to the civil rights statute.

Bell spoke with a lot of composure, saying that this not a problem of the past, it is a problem of the present. This is an issue of fairness and justice, and how the two have not always worked in concert for people of color.