A Brooklyn Nine-Nine star has called on other actors who play police officers to donate towards a bail fund amid the protests sweeping the US.

Stephanie Beatriz stars as detective Rosa Diaz on the hit comedy and tweeted to say she had donated 11,000 dollars (about £8,800) to the National Bail Fund Network.

The network says it is working to pay the bail of protesters held during the demonstrations, which were sparked when black man George Floyd died in police custody.

Beatriz said: “I’m an actor who plays a detective on tv. If you currently play a cop? If you make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in residuals from playing a cop? I’ll let you do the math.”

Beatriz, 39, said she was inspired by the actor Griffin Newman, who said he played a detective in two episodes of Blue Bloods “almost a decade ago” and also donated 11,000 dollars to the fund.

Major cities across the US have seen violent protests following Mr Floyd’s death.

A police officer filmed kneeling on his neck has been charged with murder, but demonstrators are demanding that three other officers at the scene also be prosecuted.