The first of three planned community meetings between Albany Police and residents took place Monday evening in response to the recent arrest of Albany Police Officer Luke Deer.

Sandra Thompson didn't hold back on what she wants to see happen to Deer.

“We want jail time now because my son went to jail that night. They pressed charges on my son that night," she said. Her son, Armando Sanchez, was taken into custody that night after he was allegedly beaten by Deer. 

Police were called for a noise complaint at a home on First Street on March 16. Body camera footage shows an unidentified officer approaching the door of a building and asking a man behind it to open it. He ultimately kicks the door in and drags the man outside. Later, the footage shows Deer pushing Armando Sanchez to the ground and repeatedly striking him, causing physical injuries.

Two other officers were suspended without pay.

The body camera footage surfaced earlier this month and tensions have been high between the police department and some residents since then. 

Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins hosted the community forum Monday evening.

“[Hawkins] is going to have to be stern and firm, and fire that one’s he’s going to fire," said Sanchez's sister, Gloria Stanford. "Get those bad apples out, so the good ones can come in.”

Most of the meeting focused on the initial incident itself.

"We took action here without any trigger from anybody else in the community," Hawkins said. "We understood that there was something wrong.”

Hawkins pleaded with residents not to indict the entire police department over the actions of a few officers. He said the case is being reviewed by the district attorney's office while the internal investigation is nearly complete.

“I think it helped for people to release some of the emotion. It helped for my officers and me to hear what our community is feeling about this," Hawkins said.

“For him to want to hear from the community, so that with that being said, he does want some type of change," Stanford said of Hawkins. 

The series continues with meetings on May 7 and 20. Both will take place at the Arbor Hill Community Center at 5:30 p.m.