*Uh oh. Here’s some news that’s not going to go over very well. On Wednesday, the Minneapolis Police Chief said that bodycam footage of George Floyd‘s death won’t be released.
Chief, Medaria Arradondo‘s explanation was that since it is being investigated by the FBI it’s up to them to make the footage public after one of the officers’ lawyers said it will “prove” there was a struggle.
(To which we and anybody with a brain would say, “so what?” “What does that have to do with having his life squeezed out of him for 8 minutes and 46 seconds when he was already handcuffed and lying on his stomach?”)
At a press conference, Chief Arradondo took questions for nearly an hour on Floyd’s May 25 killing, the fiery riots it inspired in the city in the days afterward, and the now-global movement against police brutality that it sparked, reports Daily Mail.
RELATED: George Floyd’s Brother, Philonise Floyd, Tells Congress: ‘Enough Is Enough’ (Watch)
Meanwhile, on the issue of police reform, he said he was down with it, he but said it would stay intact and that there were officers within the force who were committed to change. The problem is with the police union which makes it difficult for him to fire cops who are guilty of misconduct.
Getting back to the issue of sharing the bodycam footage, here’s what he said after being asked if it should be shared: “We do not have the purview of being able to do that.”
It would have to be a decision by those two agencies,’ referring to the FBI and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) which is also investigating Floyd’s killing.
Here’s more via Daily Mail:
The FBI is notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to its investigations and sharing evidence is rare
It is likely the bodycam footage may not surface until the cops’ trial and even then, it remains unclear if media and public will have access to it.
His comments come amid growing calls for the department to be entirely disbanded and built from the ground up again, or replaced by social workers and community leaders.
‘We’re going to have to have community support. Our PD is going to be here and we have to do better, we have to be committed.
‘This is going to take time. It’s going to be some hard work,’ Chief Arradondo said.
The chief also announced that he was pulling out of all negotiations with the police union.
He said the contract needs to be restructured to provide more transparency and flexibility for true reform.
The article goes on to note that the review would look at matters such as critical incident protocols, use of force, and disciplinary protocols, including grievances and arbitration.
“This work must be transformational, but I must do it right,” Arradondo said of changes to the department.
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