[image_credit]MinnPost file photo by Ibrahim Hirsi[/image_credit][image_caption]Federation President Lt. Bob Kroll doesn’t get to choose the kind or number of officers he represents.[/image_caption]
Both of these initiatives represent the very same kind of failed solution for reform that members of the affected communities were saying during the protests have failed to bring about “real change” in the past. Politicians coming in from outside their communities “listening to folks,” making promises to deliver overpowering legislation to fix problems for them, from the outside in and the top down, haven’t solved the problems in the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) in the past. So why do we keep doing the same things over and over again that haven’t worked in the past, and still expect that people in the affected communities should have reason to believe that real change will happen?
Fix from the bottom up and the inside out
Problems in organizations like the MPD unfold from the bottom up and the inside out. Unfortunately, just about every action taken or proposed to fix the MPD has been an effort to monster truck crush the MPD with legislation, without any regard at all for the well-being of the “good cops” who reside there — without any protective and supportive regard at all for the people within the department that everyone in search of real change need to fix the MPD from the bottom up and the inside out.
These are the kinds of solutions that everyone should be creating to solve the problems in the MPD, from the bottom up and the inside out:
1) Consider if you will, that Bob Kroll doesn’t get to choose the kind or number of officers he represents. He can’t bring “bad officers” on to the force to join a band of bad actors who are already there, because he doesn’t have the power to hire anyone. Nor does he have the power to discipline or fire “bad officers.” Nor does he have the power to reward “bad officers” with promotions and awards. If the perception that the MPD is overloaded with “bad officers” is true, then the responsibility for that condition falls directly on management.
[image_caption]John A. Mattsen[/image_caption]
Solution: The focus of attention by outside investigative authorities, authorities who have direct knowledge and experience in law enforcement and knowledge about best practices, (not members of the community who have never had to actually do the things that police officers have to do), should focus directly on management.
2) It is inconceivable that the political antics of Kroll would ever be tolerated in the federal sector. The Hatch Act strongly limits the political activities of all federal employees, including union representatives. In addition, federal unions are required to separate union business from political advocacy. Even the appearance of wrongdoing in the federal sector isn’t tolerated.
Solution: If the feds can enact legislation and establish policy to accomplish these objectives, so can the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and the Minnesota Legislature.
Create a different law enforcement culture
3) If in fact the MPD is overloaded with “bad cops,” then don’t the “good cops” in the MPD have an obligation to report the misconduct of “bad cops” to “good management,” if it exists? Don’t they have an obligation to do this, just as the three officers who stood by in the George Floyd incident had a duty to intervene?
True it is that “bad cops” almost universally agree that loyalty to each other is more important than honesty and integrity and doing the right thing. So do criminals in prisons and in gangs on the street, who label whistleblowers as “snitches.”
“Good cops” working for good management who have good whistleblower protection systems for reporting waste, fraud, abuse, and poor management, don’t within reason operate as if loyalty is more important than honesty, integrity, and doing the right thing.
This isn’t fairytale talk. I am a 70-year-old retired federal law enforcement officer. Yes, federal law enforcement officers do report the serious wrongdoing of coworkers — wrongdoing that results in disciplinary actions including terminations of employment — and they are supported by their coworkers for doing so. Yes, law enforcement cultures like this really do exist.
Solution: If a culture of law enforcement as I suggest exists on the federal level and in other police departments, then it can be created at the local level by good managers and good officers who are committed to doing the right thing, in the public interest, for the public good. Create a special division in the Office of the Hennepin County Attorney, where all whistleblower complaints from the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County would be filed. It should become the duty of the county attorney to investigate all claims, protect whistleblowers from all reprisals, determine if sanctions should be administrative or criminal, and to sanction whistleblowers who knowingly file fraudulent claims. It should be a place where whistleblowers can go to solve problems, without violating any security concerns by going public.
4) In a crisis, officers do what they are trained to do. I would be shocked to discover that there is any law enforcement agency in the country that teaches line officers when and how to rightfully usurp authority, to include refusing to follow the orders of management. (Been there! Done that! Too many times!)
Solution: Create both clear and gray area role-play scenarios that show officers when and how to rightfully refuse orders. Then, put line officers through these role-play scenarios, so that in real life when something like the George Floyd incident occurs, the odds that another officer on the scene will actually intervene will go way up.
If the solution above is implemented, it will decrease the odds that a bad manager will give an intentionally bad order to a line officer, for fear of defiance and subsequent reporting. It will create a demand for ranking officers on the scene to be respectfully cognizant of his or her team members’ concerns and ideas, such that when one officer raises a concern (like, maybe we should turn him on his side), everyone will take that concern seriously.
Don’t get rid of third-party binding arbitration
If … if the MPD is encumbered with “bad officers,” “bad management,” and a bad union president, and, if “we the people” need good officer whistleblowers to come forward to help us deal with bad actors within the MPD, then the worst possible thing that anyone can do is to weaken in any way the worker protections provided by the police union and third-party binding arbitration. (The language of qualified immunity, not binding arbitration, is the problem). I have lived through the absence of binding arbitration in law enforcement, and I am here to tell you that only poor and unethical managers stand to gain from it. One of the finest officers I have ever known died because binding arbitration wasn’t available.
Put yourself in the place of a good MPD police officer who feels obligated to blow the whistle. Whom would you trust to have your back? “We the people” in the affected communities, given their actions over the past few weeks? Fellow officers who believe that loyalty is more important than honesty? Not a chance! The mayor and police management who have been extremely short on overt public support for the good officers in the department and quick to throw under the bus the union that protects your due process rights? Bob Kroll? A citizen review board? I guarantee you that across the country right now, good cops are having kitchen table conversations with spouses about alternatives to continued employment as a police officer.
Somehow, people seem to think that government managers are the only people who are looking out for the interests of the public, and that members of labor and labor unions are only looking out for their own diametrically opposed self-serving interests. (Teacher unions have historically been thrown under the bus in the same dark light.) In real life, nothing could be further from the truth.
Better to light just one little candle than it is to curse the darkness. These are the kinds of solutions that everyone should be creating to solve the problems in the MPD, from the bottom up and the inside out. Come on Minneapolis! Show us what you’ve got!
John A. Mattsen of New Brighton is a retired federal law enforcement officer who worked in a federal prison for 28 years and was on the riot squad for 20 years. He was a union official in various capacities for 25 years; he served in the Minnesota Air National Guard for six years.
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All very good points from John Mattsen.
It seems the operating question on the MPD is not unlike buying a dilapidated house in a nice neighborhood: Is it worth the time, trouble and potential never ending new problems in trying to rehab it or do you just tear it down and start over. The initial thought is that the most economical/effective way is to fix what’s there. And that is what has been tried since the days of Charlie Stenvig: Plan A, Plan B ….Plan Z.
Interesting to note John’s comment on lots of successful and effective federal, state and local policing stories.
Is the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office one of these? A popularly elected leader, accountable to the voters. Already providing police services to a few towns/cities in the county.
Is it better to build on that foundation than the tilting, tipping, crumbling foundation of the MPD? Build up the Sheriff’s office with the best parts of the MPD and send the rest to recycling?
When the leader of the union’s nickname is “KKK Kroll” who believes a “warrior mentality” is required for the job and you’re facing a crisis of racial equity it is time to acknowledge that this dilapidated shack can’t be fixed and a new start is needed.
Thank you for your comment. In theory, an elected Sheriff looks like a good idea. No doubt it works well plenty of times. When it doesn’t work well, frequently the cause of dysfunction has to do with the high cost of running a campaign paid for by special interests who expect something in return. Things like internal promotions get tied to political support for the sheriff. Decisions about police work get made based on politics and reelect ability, instead of sound police work. Personally, I view these as being obstacles to be overcome.
While it certainly sounds reasonable to conclude that the rank and file members would not continue to elect someone with a reputation as a white supremacist, if they themselves were not racists, it would be unwise to presume and conclude that this is true. There are other reasons that they may be reelecting Bob Kroll. I won’t speculate.
I can agree on the hazards of undue influence in an election: whether it be for the Sheriff or the Mayor who may appoint the Police Chief.
I just do not see a path where the MPD can be retrained or reformed without a wholesale house cleaning. Which seems to require a popular vote on a change to the city’s charter. I do not see this passing to create a new, ill defined, community service group in place of the MPD.
That is why I think the Sheriff’s office can play a role. People have greater confidence in that office. The Sheriff won election based on Minneapolis turnout supporting him. Use community service officers for traffic safety, domestic confrontations, misdemeanor crimes. Incentivize them to live in the neighborhood they serve. Have them coordinate the response to a serious crime with the Sheriff’s office. Write a charter amendment that offers this 2 pronged approach: folks will go for it way before a “new, experimental approach”.
I think back to the MPD officers who got involved in a dust up first with some minorities and then the Green Bay police on a visit there by the 2 officers. Both clearly demonstrating that they were racist, headknockers always on the lookout for an adrenaline rush on the job or off it while on “vacation”. Do they represent 5% or 50% of the MPD?
Remember the 5th precinct Xmas tree: A majority, minority neighborhood and if a citizen goes to the precinct house for help the first thing they see is a Xmas tree decorated with empty malt liquor cans and Newport boxes. Who put it up? Do they represent 5% or 50% of the MPD?
Can the MPD function equitably even if it is only 5%?
Only when the MPD rank and file see the likelihood of their jobs and pensions going away will any meaningful change happen. Otherwise they will simply keep their heads down, seemingly comply with “retrain and reform” and nothing will change in the end.
Thans for a wonderful, clear metaphor. Yes, the MPD house is rotten to the core. Unless it’s torn down and completely rebuilt, we have no chance at all to create a Department of Public Safety that really does “Protect and Serve.”
Good piece. Well said.
A couple of quick thoughts:
1) the police union is an insult to the AFL-CIO and should get their *ss kicked out of the organization;
2) while we’re on the subject, one would hope that disbanding the current & dysfunctional police department and building a not-unreasonalbe replacement organization might afford the opportunity to rethink/realign the relationship to a union (I’m sticking with the union, except see point #1 above); and
3) yes, impartial arbitration is vital, but the more common practice of having each party appoint an arbitrator and the two of them then appoint a third, presumable neutral one, would serve us much better than the current system.
«Que sçay-je?»
I very much appreciate all of the opinions expressed here,,,,I live in the State of Florida,,,,I am 68 years old ,,,,,I have had a conversation with several officers,,,,,I am very happy to say my only in person meeting with an officer was when I was 17 years old,,,,,this experience with this officer was not good,,,,he wanted the needed items,,,,license,,,,and he asked me about the car I was driving,,,,,I know that my older sister was paying the car payments, so I said my sister was the owner,,,,,he said that was not the what he found,,,I asked who was the name he found,,,,well the name was our Father,,,,,I guess he thought I was trying to give him a lie,,,,he put his hands on me and slammed me against the rear finder area,,,,,I was so scared and being my first encounter,,,,he said next time, you better tell the truth,,,,,I went to the court to pay the ticket,,,,I asked if he was allowed to put hands on me,,,,,the person might was having a bad day,,,,,I know better now ,,,,I have to say I have never forgotten that day in my life,,,,,,I have spoken to many friends about their experience with the police,,,,they said they have also experienced similar difficulties,,,! will and do believe these police officers are shielded by the qualified impunity,,,,and the big whigs just allow this type of behavior,,,,I truly believe the impunity status needs to be replaced with a libel type of insurance,,,,,common type like others doctors do and many other others,,,,I believe both the police department and the officer pays half,,,,I believe the questionable behavior of many would change, knowing they might not be able to afford the cost even with the police themselves,,,,,I would believe the whole systems would make these bad officers think twice,,,,by the way I am telling our fellow citizens that the best place to live is the United States of America period,,,,,Thanks for your time
I read this article carefully but didn’t see anything resembling a solution. The purpose seems to be ruling things out and making excuses. As vague as the defund police idea.
The incident showed the level of conformity within the police. One officer did something horrible, three did nothing meaningful to stop it. Bad cop vs. good cop – a myth. The three others didn’t intervene, but are not as bad a Chauvin, as if he hasn’t been there, it likely would not have happened. Despite 17 complains, he was a training officer? The current system including arbitration neither forces cops who use excess force to change or removes them.
As for Kroll, after the department banned warrior training, he offered it through the union. That is insubordination and it is what gets suspects killed in custody. There is no question he carries the torch for a police culture of unlawful use of force.
That Chauvin, with 17 reprimands, was a trainer has not gotten enough attention.
The arbitration system is obviously in need of some reform. But even if an arbitrator reinstates a bad cop, why on God’s green earth would management put him in a training role??? That’s not the fault of the arbitrator.
Did Bob Kroll rise to lieutenant only after he began to get reprimands & receive complaints? I doubt it.
For several years I worked for a local school district’s facilities department. I heard a lot about the importance of diversity, inclusion, & unintended bias. One of the supervisors spoke about how during his time in junior high in the district, his Hispanic first name was Americanized by the teachers. Yet, when one of the trades’ foreman position needed to be filled, that supervisor chose to promote the worst, most bigoted knuckle dragger of the bunch. Everyone knew the talk of equity was window dressing, and a hostile work environment drove out two trades women, while they were telling us the really wanted a workforce that “reflected the citizens of the district.”
You can’t tell me it’s just about the bad cops, not when management promotes the bad apples to lieutenant & trainer positions. No arbitrator is ordering that.
You make a good point. My understanding is that it goes back to their contract which allows for promotions for anything for Lt and below(not including that of commander rank) to be via seniority and by testing instead of by appointment. The concern with appointment is that it goes back to favoritism. But it is incredible that 17 reprimands; some serious and he was able to train and there was not show that he had changed.
Bingo! I’m showing my age here. John Mattsen here. Thank you for your comment.
You are pointing out something that is really important. No one should ever assume that all management is “good management”. It is because poor management can and does exist in the world, that management cannot be trusted to be the final arbitrator in labor-management disputes. It is because “absolute power corrupts absolutely”, that third party arbitration is so important.
Look! I’m old enough to have actually worked as a law enforcement officer before third party arbitration became the norm. Unlike the people who are advocating for the elimination of third party arbitration, I have seen how horrible it can be. In actual practice, it does the exact opposite of what proponents for the elimination of third party arbitration think that it will accomplish.
You make some excellent points about third party arbitration which I wasn’t aware of. But I’ve had some professional experience with arbitration that doesn’t comment as a useful solution for resolving certain issues. I’m very doubtful about the widespread use of mandatory binding arbitration to resolve consumer complaints or stockholder objections. I’m interested in hearing why you think arbitration is a better approach to disciplinary actions (.e.g. suspension or termination) than due process hearing e.g. before an administrative law judge with right of judicial review. My sense is that arbitration weights the process against the employer.
If we close our eyes and clap really, really, really loud and move the deck chairs one more time, Tinkerbell will live in our hearts forever with warm fuzzies, or at least for one sweet summer day.
We just passed the one month point of the killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer. The legislature was so divided that NOTHING got done, not even a tiny step. Obstruction seems to be the MO of the Gazelka caucus. But I’m questioning the references to federal law enforcement – do they apply to Kroll, who is a local city federation guy? It’s going to take a while to see the kind of police reforms we need. Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, Chief Arradondo, and the Attorney General appear to be on the same page. Bold reforms take time. We will get there.
John Mattsen here. Thank you for your comment.
The references to federal law enforcement apply because if the feds can make a law to fix problems, the state and city can make laws to do the same thing. The obstacle as you correctly point out, is to get them on to the same page, and to get them to actually do the legislation.
In reply to your valid points, I could write pages of text. To be terribly brief, please allow me to make two points:
First, you are absolutely correct about your assertions IF the people who attempt to solve all these problems proceed to do so by conventional means and processes. Proof of this is found in the failed attempts of the past to bring about “real change”.
Second, please consider this quote from other unpublished things that I have written since as far back as the 1990’s:
“Grand scale change doesn’t happen because someone has a good idea. And grand scale change doesn’t happen because someone has a good idea either. Grand scale change happens when people move away fear or toward tangible opportunities, or both. (look at the pandemic). The greater and the more immediate that these things are, the faster they move. It’s pretty much as simple as that!”
May the vaccine be with you!
Contrary to Mr. Mattsen’s claim that, “It is inconceivable that the political antics of Kroll would ever be tolerated in the federal sector.”, the DOJ is currently investigating FISA abuse by the FBI and other “political antics” committed at the federal level. Partisan Politics has become more important than following the law. Corruption and abuse is as systemic as racism in the institutions that govern us; that is the problem.
Give this a thought, if George Floyd were white, would the other three officers had intervened? I think they would have. If you agree, then I hope you would also agree that racial bias (another term for racism) was at play in this tragedy. Being pragmatic and rationalizing our actions has become a pandemic of its own kind.
Remember Joe Isuzu, the fictional spokesman in 1980’s commercials? His “Faster than a speeding bullet” commercial is classic Joe. When our government leaders make speech’s rationalizing their actions or decisions, they remind me of Joe. Go watch John Elders first comments about the George Floyd murder and tell me that he doesn’t look like Joe Isuzu.
“In my years as an officer, that would not be what I would ever consider a chokehold,” ~ John Elder
It just kept getting worse as our leaders told us he “resisted arrest”, suffered a “medical emergency”, etc. It wasn’t until the bs was so deep that you needed a shovel to walk through it, that our leaders began saying things that the rest of us could relate to; if only for a moment.
Presumably by “DOJ investigation” you are referring to the investigation by (extreme partisan) Barr into the FBI’s opening of an investigation of Trump’s campaign contacts with Russian operatives.
But it is Barr’s current abusive investigation (on his client Trump’s behalf) which is the “political antic”, since both a DOJ inspector general and senate intelligence committee have found that the FBI opening the investigation into Trump’s Russia Connection was proper and non-partisan. That you would see this retributive investigation as a sign of the horrendous Barr “following the law” and not itself “partisan politics” is rather comical.
Other than that, I find much of merit in your comment.
John Mattsen here. Thank you for your thought provoking comments.
Not only was I a trainer, I was a certified self defense instructor. I never taught a choke hold if for no other reason that it wasn’t an authorized procedure. I never encountered a situation where it was necessary, and I encountered some pretty bad situations. I find it absolutely appalling that it would even be taught, except perhaps as a last resort effort for an officer to save his own life in a struggle.
I was shocked to see in the CBS interview of the Mpls police union officials, one of them saying that they might have applied the choke hold, but this person would have released the pressure after Mr, Floyd passed out. What?????? What???? And that didn’t make front page news???
There in lies the rub; former officer J. Alexander Keung claims self-defense. According to NBC News, Keung, 26, will plead not guilty and “will argue he acted in self-defense and used reasonable, authorized force to detain Floyd.”
It isn’t training or policy that is the problem, it’s the lack of honesty and integrity, and the existence of a double-standard used to judge police and civilian conduct. I just watched a video of a Miami-Dade police officer knocking the lights out of a black woman who was in his face, claiming she head-butted him. Head-butt!?! I didn’t see that in the video. What I saw was a vicious right cross delivered to a woman who was in his face.
I understood how he felt. As a man I’ve been yelled at by a woman on rare occasions, but I never considered slugging her as an option. I’d get arrested and go to jail, plus the civil liability would financially crush me. But if I were a Police officer, I could get away with it by claiming self-defense no matter how ridiculous my claim is. I think people in general see what I have seen; and they are fed up.
Our supreme court ruled years ago that police are not required to tell the truth while interviewing a suspect, but a suspect being questioned is required to be truthful, under punishment of law. I mention that here because I think it is a big part of the problem of police conduct. The double-standard is confusing to me. How can a Police officer claim self-defense for conduct that would land me or any other man in jail? I don’t get it.
I also served as a federal LEO for 18 years and I have to say this is the most realistic set of ideas on the matter of building a better public safety organization I have seen to date.
DOJ investigation into what? The cops have all been charged (possibly over charged) and the trial will be coming up. Keith Ellison is in charge, what in the world would the DOJ investigate? The Police Union has a multitude of laws to protect bad police, that has to change. Do you think after 50 years of Democrats giving in to the power of the unions, it will magically change now? Systemic issues manifest themselves over years, who was in charge of Minneapolis the past 50 years? The same folks who are going to fix it?
DOJ can bring federal civil rights violations in parallel to state murder charges. Some of us are old enough to remember Rodney King.
Thank you for your comments. Your comments bring forth so many thoughts that it would take too long to address them. So, as we say here in Minnesota, “Here’s the deal!” Being acutely aware of problems and obstacles is not the same thing as being abundantly aware of potential solutions. Stop! This is not a criticism! That is not my intent.
When government officials and the public sit down and try to figure out how to fix all these problems, they are going to be buried much deeper than you are in problems, and all of the things that haven’t worked in the past. Someone is going to have to figure out how to get from there to the promised land of solutions that will bring about “real change”.
Why can’t that person be you? What besides prejudice would make anyone assume that you can’t do this….that you can’t be the person who could contribute a solution? Why not turn your passion away from the negativity of analysis, and turn it into the direction of solution creation.
The worst that could happen is that you will develop a sense of empathy for the people who have to figure how to fix all of this.
Do you really think the federal system under AG Barr is that great?
Absolutely not! I thought that US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez would go down in history as the worst attorney general ever to hold office. Apparently I was wrong!
So you make a really good point. Even if Senator Klobuchar had succeeded in getting Barr to conduct an investigation, there would always be a cloud of uncertainty that would hang over the investigation. As would an investigation conducted by, say, authorities in Ferguson. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an authority somewhere who could do an impartial investigation of the whole MPD.
Only 15 officers signed the letter condemning Chauvins killing of a man in broad daylight while dozens watched. That is out of over 800 officers. It’s not a few bad cops and lots of good cops. It’s the exact opposite.
You make a good point, but come to a conclusion that may or may not be true. Your conclusion does not prove that there are only 15 good officers on the MPD.
It’s like a game of wack-a-mole. Any officer who would be foolish enough to stick his or her head up through one of a dozen holes, would discover that there two dozen wackers up there ready to do them in, each one cherry picking every word that was said, using it to solidify whatever position they have dug in on.
I think these are probably very helpful suggestions had they been implemented 50 years ago. As things stand now, the culture of the MPD filters out any who want to enact meaningful change on it. And given that seniority tends to lead to authority, those in charge have a vested interest in maintaining the culture.
If the only way to reform the MPD is to fire most of the management and a lot of the rank-and-file (the ‘bad cops’), why not take the next step of re-evaluating the expectations of the societal responsibility of the police? Why were two people who trained and authorized to use deadly force sent to investigate a routine report of a counterfeit bill in distribution? Surely there’s a better way, so let’s try to figure out what that looks like.
Federal law enforcement generally doesn’t involve actual policing (CPB, which is chock-full of white supremecists, being the biggest exception [and NSA surveillance notwithstanding]). Regulatory agencies (in theory) provide oversight and detection of wrongdoing, with federal law enforcement stepping in only when there’s suspicion of a crime. We can certainly apply this model to our local communities instead of having police serve both functions.
There are damn good reasons why US Marshals don’t do OSHA inspections, so why do we tolerate armed police addressing homelessness?
All good comments. I would take a little exception to your comment about federal law enforcement not doing policing. I think what you meant is that federal law enforcement officers don’t do community policing.
Your comment about officers in CBD (not sure what that is) being white racists drew my attention. I worked with a fellow officer for 25 years who had confided in me early in his career that he was a racist…that he was from the south and had been taught from an early age to hate the blacks. No, I didn’t turn him into the thought police.
I can tell you with complete honesty, not once did I ever seem act in an unprofessional manner. Not once did I ever see him give preferential treatment to whites, or take actions against blacks on the basis of race. Inmates complained about him, but that just goes with the territory.
Over time, he actually learned to enjoy the company of black inmates. Inmates of all colors respected him, and wanted to be around him. And that happened because he was a professional! He did his job!
It does not hold that just because someone has personal beliefs that run counter to that of the general population, that they are incapable of being a professional.
Mr. Mattsen, are you sure that those are ULPs under Minnesota’s public employee relations law? The NLRB does not apply to governments.
I was covertly pointing to hole that you have exposed. If the laws aren’t there, then the task at hand is to create the laws that fill the gap. Good comment!
Just hire all minorities to be Minneapolis police officers. No “White’s” need apply. Than you’ll never have any talk about a police shooting being racist. Black cops shoots a black suspect, that’s no problem. Black cop shoots a white suspect, that’s no problem either. Plus it offers more jobs to minorities. Problem solved. Minneapolis can rest assured they’ve solved their worries about “racism” and all the Caucasian’s can relieve their “white guilt”. It’s a win, win, win.
Thanks for your expert thoughts on this conundrum.
It certainly does make sense to investigate the failed “management” and supervisors of the MPD at this point, as well as beef-up the whistle blower protections, which are already quite extensive. Exactly what “authorities” would have the expertise you demand for the task seems a mystery.
Police union heads all over the country are engaging in overt political behavior and, given the total “conservatization” of the federal courts, any attempt by a state or municipality to reign them in would likely be declared unconstitutional.
But I think Mr Duwenhoegger’s comment is unanswerable: it’s not a few bad cops and lots of good ones. Hence, reform “from the bottom up and the inside out” is like trying to cleanse the Augean Stables. Futile. And thinking “neighbors can police neighbors” is a fairy tale which would itself collapse into chaos and widespread violence in about 3 weeks. Also futile.
Frankly, Mpls is screwed on this one, as there is no viable “solution”. If there was, or if there was even a path to one, it would have been hit upon (or at least vaguely imagined) by now. But the history of city police departments across the USA is such a tale of corruption, brutality and abuse that one really shouldn’t be surprised. The “reform” attempts are endless.
One is tempted to say the entire enterprise cannot function in an equitable, lawful and civilized manner, yet we are presented with a relatively violent, barbaric and (thanks to the NRA) heavily armed society of “freedom lovers” that must be “policed” in order to behave. Hence the conundrum.
And any attempt to change the qualified immunity standard for cops (which you assert is the real problem with binding arbitration in discipline) will (and already has) hit the immovable reef of “conservative” opposition in both St Paul and DC.
As I say, futile.
Bono is known to frequently quote an old Chinese proverb of unknown origin. Everything is impossible until it is done.
This comment is coming from someone who has been around the block so many times they could name the streets after me.
As I noted in a previous comment, you are correct IF the people who have to try to fix all of this proceed by conventional means to do so. Of course, I’ve never said that proceeding to fix all of this by conventional means was anything but a bad idea. I have never had fixing all of this by conventional means in mind.
Thank you to Mr. Mattsen for his article.
There are examples that I know of in the Minneapolis Police Department who are extraordinary officers, while at least one recently retired from the MPD. Officer Bruce Ketzner of Second Precinct was a mild mannered officer with a fine sense of humor and a caring spirit.
I met Ketzner in the late 1980’s when I was being assaulted at University of Minnesota over a two year period by sad examples of students who beat me because they learned that I had the ‘horrific’ mental illness of mild depression. UMPD refused to assist me because one captain said “You’re mentally ill and bring on your own problems”; my grades went below a 3.0 GPA, and I never made it to graduate school. Bruce took a quiet interest in me, revealing that someone he knew had depression and committed suicide. I later met Officer Ketzner at Dinnaken House, a property on the east side of campus where he and now LT John Delmonico worked off-duty. Both men showed amazing care for the people they served, had a good sense of humor, and were approachable.
Current Sergeants Abdulluhai and Ali, of the First and Fifth Precincts, respectively, have shown pleasant and considerate countenances during their work when they were officers in the First Precinct where I knew them. Abdulluhai is now an investigator in the First, and Ali is working in the Fifth, but I have not had contact with them in over a year.
Paul Tschida, who was an FBI Special Agent, superintendent of the MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and Commissioner of Public Safety during Arne Carlson’s time as governor of Minnesota is now retired and in his eighties, but showed himself to be an erudite and considerate gentleman during his time at University of Minnesota where he served as associate vice president of campus health and safety and brought about changes in the way UMPD worked with people know or believed to have “mental illnesses” — which can be as simple as mild depression or anxiety, as I had, or which can be as complicated as having delusions and paranoia, and difficulties staying within a reasonable level of behavior and thinking which makes life with others comfortable and tenable.
I have had contact with other Minneapolis law enforcement officers including Eddie Frizzell, now chief of Metro Transit Police Department and others whose names I have forgotten. So many of these officers are examples of kindness and good judgment. They are not to be forgotten and should not be forgotten during this period of upset in our community.
Mr. Mattsen’s comment about lighting a little candle instead of cursing the darkness is prescient during this time of cynicism toward what appear in many people’s minds as “all law enforcement officers” being horrible and deadly.
Certainly, there are horrible and immature officers. A few years ago, I called on a welfare check for a neighbor of mine who had left her apartment in tears after falling on the floor from the flooded kitchen, after the seventh flooding of her kitchen from a neighbor who used their bathtub to do their baby’s dirty diaper laundry, creating a malicious odor. The officer came storming down the hall yelling about how a flooded kitchen is not worth a 911 call.
The officer was a young man who obviously believed he was supposed to exert a strong and powerful presence — even in a situation where a simple review of the situation was necessary and kindness would have be preferred. His angst and loud character created an embarrassing situation for his partner, who I thanked for his calm demeanor. He was an embarrassment to Minneapolis Police Department, and I was concerned he would take out his weapon.
I have forwarded this article to MN Senator Kari Dziedzic, MN State Representative Mohamud Noor, Minneapolis City Council Members Lisa Bender and Cameron Gordon, and the Mayor’s Office (with a request that it be forwarded to the Minneapolis Chief of Police, who I have met and who I consider a fine character).
All said, I think we should remember that a greater proportion of Minneapolis police officers are fine people. Mr. Mattsen’s comments suggesting that officers engage in role playing to learn how to stop bad behavior of other officers is a great one and I hope it will be taught.
Thank you again for this fine article.
It would be my opinion that the points you raise are worthy of publication, so as to reach a wider audience.
Thank you, John, for your comment.
I have been involved with a variety of neighborhood and Hennepin County boards of directors, coalitions and councils.
Senator Kari Dziedzic asked me to go to Hennepin County Board of Commissioners in late 2011 to make a speech on why I would like to serve on the Hennepin County Adult Mental Health Advisory Council, given my improvement from earlier difficult periods with depression (low energy and things just not going right for me). I did and was appointed by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners to the twenty-three member council comprised of four consumers, four family members of consumers, and a variety of physicians, nurses, and social workers.
Despite having family in the protective services class of occupations, and a dad who was a city attorney for three cities in Anoka County, and having had problems with UMPD officers not taking me seriously during a period in the late 1980’s when I was becoming aware of, and working to manage, my depression and anxiety, I make an effort to be objective and considerate. I also make an effort to be right with the medication which subdues the anxiety and depression, but stigma toward people with even mild mental health conditions can be strong in an environment where only horror stories are told about people with mental health concerns.
Like myself, no officer or agent is without some failing. But virtue also abounds among the greater many. This should be understood by the Minneapolis City Council and members of our community who are aware of the negligence and animosity by the relative few among the 800 or so officers that are serving Minneapolis.
This said, those few are enough to frighten and disturb countless members of our community whose families have been among the underclass of our society for many generations. Few people, relative to the millions of people in the United States, climb out of poverty and the middle class.
As well, some people with whom officers come into contact are disruptive and dangerous, while others are just not in the mood to be stopped for crimes they have not committed. With regard to George Floyd, we cannot be certain that he was aware that the $20.00 bill he used at Cup Foods was a forgery. It takes special ink and a light to examine bills for authenticity.
I will take you up on your suggestion to write an article. I am currently in contact with the Office of the Mayor of Minneapolis, and with others who will decide on how to renovate the law enforcement community in Minneapolis.
I have read the charter amendment and am not happy to see that so little has been proposed. The proposal lacks detail, and it does not appear to require the new director of law enforcement to know anything about law enforcement.
The proposal on the City of Minneapolis website is not easily found after a test of several common sense wordings. I found it on July 4, 2020, but was not able to find it again on July 5.
Your idea of having someone with good law enforcement experience be part of the solution is one which I believe is helpful.
The following report may be helpful in understanding crime in the Minneapolis metro area. Drug crimes, grand theft and prostitution require the use of specialized law enforcement to help investigate and arrest serious perpetrators. Behavior anomalies from even marijuana use can create danger in our cities. We might examine the use of guns and blades in crimes in Minneapolis, as well as the prevalence of how many people carry weapons:
https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Minneapolis-Minnesota.html
While not all drug users are creating problems in the community, the lack of judgment which follows creates hazards for law enforcement officers. The confusion which follows can be upsetting and deadly. I put it to the members of our Minneapolis City Council to put their feet in the shoes of officers approaching people in hazardous situations.
This said, there are officers whose reason for choosing law enforcement as an occupation are questionable. The officers I named in my earlier comment show good and often impeccable judgment; the officers which I have not named appear to have personality issues and a level of naivete which makes operating as a law enforcement officer difficult. However, citizens who are not officers have the same issues.
In the case of my so-called 911 call, the call was not made to 911 but to the non-emergency number, and as the victim disappeared after crying and in pain due to slipping on her floor after several other similar incidents of flooding by her upstairs neighbors. The victim is a niece of a Hennepin County district court judge.
I wish you the best in your retirement, and encourage you to contact Lisa Bender, President of the Minneapolis City Council, with ideas on improving our community in a vein of which you have expert knowledge.
Here is a link to the proposed changes:
https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/File/3886/MPD%20Charter%20Amendment%20Articles%20VII%20and%20Article%20VIII.pdf
Thanks for the link.
Very interesting: Essentially giving the City Council free reign to later invent something better.
By removing the police to citizen ratio in the current charter a lot of change could happen.
I wonder how the “police officer sub-division” in the newly created community safety department shakes out with the current union contract. All of the community safety functions will greatly reduce MPD head count: does seniority play a role when cop jobs are eliminated?
The charter change vote comes down to:
“do you trust the judgement of the city council to manage that change?”
As a former 30 year resident of the city, I have no dog in the fight anymore, only opinions. These are the folks the people elected to represent them. Will they trust their judgement?
The City Council may not have the individual experience or maturity to understand that there are really great leaders in law enforcement both at the local, state and federal levels. They need to make this jump to understand that our law enforcement services, or whatever one cares to call them, cannot survive in a vacuum without leaders with understanding of sound law enforcement strategies and techniques.