The families of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls, two Black women who were found dead on Dec. 12, are demanding accountability from the Bridgeport Police Department, which they say mishandled investigations into both women’s deaths.

On Tuesday (Feb. 15), both families testified before the Bridgeport Police Commission and called for Acting Bridgeport Police Chief Rebeca Garcia to be replaced. The families also want the police commissioner and mayor to send a formal letter to the Department of Justice asking the federal agency to investigate their loved ones’ deaths and the police department.

“If we need [the] DOJ to come in here to figure out what’s happening in Bridgeport [then] we’re going to do that, and I think the commission should be on our side,” attorney Darnell Crosland, who is representing both families, said.

“What are you going to do to change this situation? How are you going to move forward handling how you handle Black women, Black people [and] people of color?” Shantell Fields, Lauren Smith-Fields’ mother, asked the commission. “I want you to know the whole world is watching how the Bridgeport Police Department is handling this case.”

Dorothy Washington, one of Rawls’ sisters, added that the police department has treated her family “like trash.”

As reported by REVOLT, Smith-Fields, a 23-year-old Black woman; was found dead in her apartment on Dec. 12 after going on a first date with a 37-year-old white man she met on Bumble. The medical examiner ruled her death an accidental overdose, but her family says police failed to pursue her date as a potential suspect and did not notify them about her death.

On the same day, Rawls was also found dead at a man’s house and her family says they were never contacted about her death. Both families feel their loved ones’ deaths were treated with disregard by the police department.

“It’s like these two women were like roadkill. Like they found them on the side of the street and probably assumed, ‘Oh they’re Black, they’re female, they’re in a low-income area, nobody will come looking for them,'” Washington previously told NBC Connecticut. “That’s how we feel; that’s how my family feels.”

Last month, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim suspended the two detectives who were investigating the cases. They are both on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.

After both families’ testimonies, Mayor Ganim issued a statement that read, in part, “I am reaffirming my continued commitment to get the answers that they deserve and so that they may each properly grieve the loss of their valued family member and loved one.”