Lauren Smith-Fields: Two police officers suspended over investigation into death of two Black women

Mayor expresses disappointment amid claims of institutional failures

Lauren Smith-Fields died after going on a date with an ‘older white man’ she met on Bumble (Smith-Fields family/GoFundme)

Two police detectives have been suspended following criticism of investigations into the deaths of two Black women.

The detectives were immediately placed on leave by the mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, at the weekend amid an investigation into their actions.

It follows claims that the Bridgeport Police Department failed to fully investigate or provide information into the deaths of two Black women who were recently killed in the city.

Families of both Lauren Smith-Fields, 23, and Brenda Rawls, 53, told NBC News last month that their deaths on 12 December were inadequately followed-up.

“Nobody ever notified us that she died,” said a sister of Rawls. “We had to do our own investigation and find out where she was.”

“They never took any opportunity to look for next of kin, [and] the next time we saw our sister, she was in a funeral home.”

Smith-Fields’s family made similar accusations about the police department, who Bridgeport mayor Joseph Ganim said in a statement on Saturday had been a disappointment.

“I want you to know that I am extremely disappointed with the leadership of the Bridgeport Police Department and find actions taken up to this point unacceptable,” said Mr Ganim.

“I have directed deputy chief Baraja to immediately put on administrative leave the two officers who are the subject of a Bridgeport Police Office of Internal Affairs (OIA) investigation and disciplinary action for lack of sensitivity to the public and failure to follow police policy in the handling of these matters,” he added.

Both families said the women had planned to meet men that day, with a medical examiner ruling Smith-Fields’ death an accident resulting from “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol.” 

That update came last week, and more than a month after the alleged killing of Smith-Fields, who had reportedly met an “older white man” from Bumble, a dating app, on the day of her death.

Rawls’s cause of death has not been confirmed and an investigation into both incidents is continuing.

The Independent has contacted the Bridgeport Police Department for comment.