Google employees demand to stop services for the police department amid #blacklivesmatter protests

Nearly 16,000 Google employees wrote a letter to the Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, demanding not to provide technological services to law enforcement agencies.

The employees cite a software contract with a police department in New York and some of Google's investments as contradicting with the Alphabet Inc. company's opposition to racism and police brutality.

However, after the George Floyd incident that took place in Minneapolis, Pichai is planning to launch a $175 million package for black businesses and job seekers.

An excerpt from the letter read, "We have a long way to go to address the full legacy of racism but, to begin with -- we should not be in the business of profiting from racist policing."

In response to the letter, Google spokesman released a statement, explaining, "We have longstanding terms of use for generally available computing platforms like Gmail, G Suite and Google Cloud Platform, and these products will remain available for governments and local authorities, including police departments, to use." Further, it read, "We're committed to work that makes a meaningful difference to combat systemic racism, and our employees have made over 500 product suggestions in recent weeks, which we are reviewing."

Other technological giants like Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. backed away from their partnerships with law enforcement. Amazon suspended the sale of facial-recognition technology, meanwhile, Microsoft refused to offer technological help. In 2018, Google stopped its off-the-shelf facial recognition services.

In the same letter to Google CEO, employees cited a 2017 lawsuit against Clarkstown and its police officers for surveilling protestors 'illegally'. The employees also called out Gradient Ventures in the letter.

The Google staff further writes in the letter, "We want to be proud of the company we work for."