Minneapolis police officers pen open letter condemning former officer Derek Chauvin

[Judi Lynn]

Source: CNN


By Melissa Alonso and Josh Campbell, CNN 7 hrs ago

Members of the Minneapolis Police Department spoke out on Friday out against former police officer Derek Chauvin in an open letter addressed to "everyone -- but especially Minneapolis citizens."


"Derek Chauvin failed as a human and stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life. This is not who we are," said the letter, signed by fourteen MPD officers. "We're not the union or the administration," the letter says.

"We stand ready to listen and embrace the calls for change, reform and rebuilding," says the letter, which comes as powerful police unions across the country are digging in, preparing for a once-in-a-generation showdown over policing and new polls that indicate that most Americans now acknowledge that African Americans are more likely to be mistreated or even killed by police.

"There were many more willing to sign, but the group opted to showcase people from across the PD as well as male/female, black/white, straight/gay, leader/frontline, etc. Internally, this is sending a message" said Paul Omodt, a spokesperson for the officers who penned the open letter.

Most of the officers hold ranks of lieutenant or sergeant, according to Omodt.



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/minneapolis-police-officers-pen-open-letter-condemning-former-officer-derek-chauvin/ar-BB15pqwe?li=BBnb7Kz

[paleotn]

1. Cracks in the blue union wall.....

Cops in mass, finally admitting the obvious publicly. It's a start.

[Laelth]

2. Agreed.

The fact that they announced that they WERE NOT the union is significant.

-Laelth

[angrychair]

14. This is virtue signaling

6 months from now when a white judge finds him not guilty because of qualified immunity and a secret arbitration hearing restores him to work with back pay, he will be welcomed as a hero.

Thats how this works. Its has so repeatedly.

I have zero faith that this works out in anyone's favor but the police union's favor.

[mpcamb]

16. If we've got 6 months, let's turn "qualified immunity" to dust in the wind.

[angrychair]

17. I hope so

I have little faith anymore that any of this is going to change.
I was watching an old columbo episode yesterday and there was this scene that implied issues with police and institutional racism (not what any of it was about, more of an underlying side commentary)

My point being is that it's not like any of this is new. It's been talked about for decades. Nothing has changed.
I'm pretty dark and moody right now but I have little faith that anything will materially change.
People like trump always win and poor people like me and people of color especially, always lose in this game.

[planetc]

3. We will need people to talk to each other. These people are well-spoken.

If we mean to redefine policing, and divert funds from police forces to other, better, forms of dealing with problems, then all concerned will have to sit down and talk through the possibilities and develop plans. Anybody who can talk calmly and sensibly is welcome.

[RAB910]

4. What about the other 3 officers?

I appreciate the sentiment but for me, it rings hollow if they fail to address the 3 officers that assisted in and allowed the execution

[2naSalit]

6. Including the one who is

his BIL.

[Nevilledog]

18. That was found to not be true.

[2naSalit]

19. THat the one isn't his wife's brother?

If so, I haven't heard anything since before they were arrested, I thank you for the update.

[Nevilledog]

20. I believe it was in a press release from Kelly Chauvin

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/06/two-former-officers-involved-in-floyds-death-are-not-in-laws/

[2naSalit]

21. Thanks.

Didn't see that, thanks.

[disndat]

5. Chauvin was bailed out?

Some one, or group, met the $million plus bail.

[2naSalit]

7. I think it was one of the trainees.

[spike jones]

8. Bull shit. I will believe it when the police start ridding themselves of bad cops.

They ALL know which cops are doing bad things. BULL SHIT!!!!

[jb5150]

9. Well, bully for them ....

Might have been nice if they had spoken out before he killed somebody … it wasn't like they didn't know he was a bad apple …. I mean, how many fucking complaints does it take?

[vsrazdem]

10. Where were they when the protesters were getting pummeled with batons and tear gas.

It says there were many more willing to sign. Well la-di-da. I don't believe it. I saw that chain of police vehicles spraying peaceful protesters on the side of the road from their cruisers days later. Those citizens were doing nothing as the police cars drove by and sprayed tear gas from the windows. I didn't hear anyone speaking out then either. The fact that those that signed hold ranks, makes it even more disgusting that it took this for them to finally say something.

[Downtown Hound]

11. That's nice.

Now maybe try doing something BEFORE it gets to this point. Chauvin had a complaint list a mile long and yet not only did he still have a job, but he was in charge of training rookie officers, who are now behind bars due to his actions.

[rocktivity]

12. It just needs to be easier to for cops to stop bad cops from being bad cops, that's all.

Chauvin wouldn't have done with he did he knew he would have been instantly reported by his fellow officers (if not arrested on the spot), criminally charged, and unemployed before the next sunrise. He wasn't worried about other cops ratting on him, or the police union or his chain of command coming down on him, or that the D.A. wouldn't cover his ass. As for the chokehold itself, did he do it properly -- or can a perfectly healthy man survive no blood or air circulating to his brain for nine minutes? Perhaps an in-court demonstration at Chauvin's trial is in order...


rocktivity

[patphil]

13. That's a good start.

Police officers have to start policing themselves.
It way overdue for the police to hold themselves to the same standard of law and order as they hold the rest of the people.
Protect and serve has to be more than a slogan. It has to be the reality of each officer's daily life on the force. And that includes protecting people from other cops.
My daughter's friend, whose boy friend is a cop, said that this is all just about a "few bad apples".
Well, those bad apples are a lot more than a few. The number has grown for decades as they see that there is no consequence for their actions.

If the police had dealt with these cops when they acted like "bad apples", there wouldn't be any.
Those on the force who have the "few bad apples" attitude are covering for them, and are just as much a part of the problem.

[oasis]

15. They acknowledge the work that has to be done. It's a start. nt