George Floyd, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Institute for Criminal Justice Training Reform’s Response to the Killing of George Floyd

We are greatly saddened by the murder of George Floyd and the unrest that has followed as citizens express their righteous indignation of the callousness and needless death of another person of color at the hands of police. While we find some solace in the swift firing of the 4 officers involved, as well as the criminal charges that were brought against each of the officers, we believe that this is only the smallest of gestures that could be taken considering the long enduring pain that the Floyd family will endure and the indescribable damage to the African-American community.

There are several problematic issues that led to the fatal encounter between the officers and Mr. Floyd, yet the importance of the training and experience of the officers cannot be ignored. We witnessed the violations of basic training protocols as Derek Chauvin sat unphased on Mr. Floyd’s neck as 3 other officers stood idly by as George drew his final breaths. Not only did they dismiss Mr. Floyd’s pleas, and the physical signs of distress, these officers ignored the appeals of bystanders, showing an indifference to human life.

The Institute’s Executive Director, Randy Shrewsberry says that although the city of Minneapolis and the State of Minnesota may have higher than average training requirements than the national average, it remains alarmingly inadequate. We encourage legislators to address the abysmal training minimums that are set forth for police officers at both the city and state level. “Currently, the State requires only 1080 hours of basic training, far less when compared to other professions who are not responsible for life and death decisions.  Further, we call on the State of Minnesota to immediately prohibit any militarized/ paramilitary style trainings that encourages this type of aggressive and non-empathetic policing and refocus on training officers of the sanctity of life.”  

Beyond that, it is important that our public leaders and public safety officials demand officers to exhibit empathy and care, even when someone may be suspected to have violated the law. Police leaders must take swift action to remove any officer who exhibits a lack of basic human care or those that demonstrate the racial undertones that we see all too frequently in our country. The apathy displayed by these officers is an all-to-often attitude shown by our nation’s law enforcement which is often rooted in the culture of policing and police training.