A scathing Tampa Bay Times report out in April highlighted a Tampa Police Department policy that involved targeting African Americans riding bicycles in low-income areas.
The revelation sparked local outrage, national media attention and a U.S. Department of Justice investigation.
As part of the investigation, federal officials from the department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) division will be in town Tuesday to hear from members of the public on the policy, which many consider unfair and some have called racist.
The "community listening session" will take place from 6-8 p.m. at Hillsborough Community College at E. Palm Avenue and N. 14th Street.
The input gleaned at Tuesday's meeting will help officials "identify whether racial disparities exist in the department's stops and the issuance of tickets, determine the reason behind any disparities, and provide recommendations to address such," according to a media release.
Tampa Police Department officials have defended the policy, saying they're just targeting areas with high incidences of crime.
But community activists and entities like the American Civil Liberties Union are calling for the practice to stop until the investigation is finished.
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2015.