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Watch: Dugan addresses Seminole Heights residents' concerns at NAACP event

 
LOREN ELLIOTT   |   Times  Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan speaks about the Seminole Heights killings at an NAACP general meeting at the Seminole Heights Branch Library in Tampa on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017.
LOREN ELLIOTT | Times Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan speaks about the Seminole Heights killings at an NAACP general meeting at the Seminole Heights Branch Library in Tampa on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017.
Published Nov. 17, 2017

TAMPA — Members of the black community expressed appreciation on Thursday for police efforts to find the person responsible for killing four residents of southeast Seminole Heights in recent weeks.

But at a meeting organized by the local chapter of the NAACP, some members questioned some of the ways police are going about the search.

The concerns were brought to Tampa police Chief Brian Dugan, whose department is leading the search, during his appearance as featured speaker at the Seminole Heights Branch Library event.

Specifically, NAACP members criticized what police have acknowledged is stepped up enforcement of all crimes in central Tampa in an effort to stumble across the killer.

WATCH: CHIEF BRIAN DUGAN ADDRESSES RESIDENTS AT PUBLIC FORUM

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS KILLINGS: THURSDAY'S DEVELOPMENTS

• Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday directed additional state help to aid in the search. In addition to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's contribution of $10,000 toward a reward for information leading to the suspect, he announced the Florida Highway Patrol will deploy additional officers to the neighborhood.

• With the neighborhood reeling from four unsolved fatal shootings, City Council member Frank Reddick made an emotional plea for members of the black community there to give police information about the killer. Reddick said someone in the community knows the identity of the suspect, who police this week described as a black male, about 6 feet to 6-feet-2 with a thin build and light complexion. "I'm pleading to my brothers. You know this guy," he said. "You know this guy that is walking at 4 o'clock in the morning. Brothers don't let this happen again. It could be your family next."

• The reward for information that leads to solving the four murders in Seminole Heights has reached $100,000. The reward grew from $91,000 Thursday after restaurant owner Richard Gonzmart pledged $9,000. Most of the reward comes from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Crime Stoppers, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI.