Fury as Miami cops caught using photos of black teens for shooting practice after family of one spots his bullet-ridden mugshot at a gun range - but police chief DEFENDS them

• Members of the North Miami Beach Police have been caught using photos of actual black teenagers for target practice
• This was discovered when one woman showed up at a shooting range after the department used it and saw a mugshot of her brother from when he was 18
• Now, North Miami Beach Police Chief J. Scott Dennis, saying it is common for facial recognition exercises
• When asked, other local police departments said they never use mugshots or photos of actual people for shooting practice 

By CHRIS SPARGO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 01:24 GMT, 16 January 2015 | UPDATED: 03:41 GMT, 16 January 2015

Members of the North Miami Beach Police have been caught using photos of actual black teenagers for target practice.

This was discovered during an incident last month when Sgt. Valerie Deant, a clarinet player in the Florida Army National Guard's 13th Army Band, showed up at the Medley Firearms Training Center after members of the department had been practicing, and recognized one of their targets - a mugshot of her brother from when he was just 18-years-old.

The other targets were also black men, and some just teenagers. But now the department is defending the practice.

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