Every time there’s a well publicized controversial killing of a black man by a white police officer there are calls for police reform. But each time the focus on these pleas for change fades away with time. Will the killing of George Floyd be any different?
It’s a question that, admittedly, can’t be answered. But I sense attitudes are changing because of Floyd’s death.
Everyone by now has seen the killing of Floyd at the knee of then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. It seems to me, those images have moved a lot of people who previously were quick to blanketly defend police into taking a new look at policing in America.
A friend of mine, a conservative police supporter, has always been quick to suggest mitigating circumstances in many of these cases. So his comments to me this week were unexpected and jarring.
“Everyone saw what that cop did to George Floyd,” he said. “It was murder, pure and simple.
“I’d like to be the one to flip the switch on the electric chair. In fact, I’d then like to give him a lethal dose just to be sure he’s dead.” (The death penalty was abolished in Minnesota in 1911).
Other people who are typical defenders of the police have made similar comments to me. Perhaps more importantly, so have a number of my police officer friends. They argue, not only were Chauvin’s actions unacceptable but embarrassing to their chosen profession.
“Whenever a cop acts stupid like this it reflects on me and makes it harder for me to do my job,” one NYPD officer commented.
A retired police chief I know also suggested that Chauvin be given the maximum penalty under the law. And says no cop should be defending his actions.
Of course, these kinds of emotive reactions to Floyd’s death are not particularly unusual. But I find the source of the comments interesting. And that’s what leads me to speculate that there may be a growing intolerance to poor police training and supervision, not only from folks who typically defend the cops, but from within their own ranks.
In the end, that’s really where the change must take place. We can discuss and improve training all we want, and we should. But unless the cops on the beat are on board with an attitudinal change we’re not going to get anywhere with this.
I know a lot of cops, both current and retired. And I’m proud to call many of them my friends. The cops I know well abhor excessive behavior by other officers. But all too often their voices are muted. Sometimes because of a culture that suggests that, because their profession is under assault they have to defend their fellow officers no matter what.
Perhaps these anecdotal conversations I’ve shared indicate that attitude is starting to change.
With regard to the execution witnessed from various angles and so cited during the trial there is an underbelly that may be of interest to Gary's readers You can take this for what it is worth. A good female friend told me not long after the event in question that she has a friend in the media who is familiar with the Minneapolis area. When the relationship between perpetrator and victim was first mentioned it was established that they both worked security at the same nightclub. It was not established whether they knew one another or not. My friend's source said that they did definitely know one another. Further that one of the "actors" was found to have gay child pornography on his computer. Now neither of this individuals was flawless. Floyd had a history of crime drug use and intimidation. Chauvin against logic and reason was still on the Minneapolis PD after about 18 citations on his record. Floyd was a father. Chauvin's wife left him after the execution.
We are living in a fraught world. Police will acknowledge that they are asked to do too much and perhaps given too much opportunity to do wrong. They rightfully should have trained personnel along to deal with mental instability cases. The lead injection should not be used to calm a person in distress if it can be avoided. Cops should walk the beat. Community policing works.
In Holland the saying is "The policemen is your best friend" until he's not. With malignant influences like Donald J Swamp and the brutality of MMA whipping up people to a frenzy
and the pandemic taking people to the point where as it is said in New Orleans they are "working on their last nerve" it is not surprising that the police force needs some fine tuning. Gun control measures long overdue would relive some of the pressure. Here in New York City the current mayor and his predecessor have kept the NYPD on a short leash regarding the enforcement of the law against lawless bike riders. This undermines the NYPD. Emboldens lawbreakers who develop a sense of entitlement-there is a ripple effect. A public safety problem.
Laws must evolve. The authorities need to enforce them responsibly.
With all the fentanyl inside George Floyd's body he was dead even before the cops got him down. I can't believe that people are still upset about a man who held a gun into a pregnant woman's stomach