Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said he is pushing for “significant” reforms to his department after the city council announced a veto-proof move to disband the police.
“As chief, I am obligated to [ensure] the public safety of our residents,” Arradondo said in response to a question about defunding the police during a Wednesday news conference. “I will not abandon that.”
Arradondo said that the police department has withdrawn from union contract negotiations in an effort to make firing officers for misconduct easier. The chief said that “there is nothing more debilitating from an employment-matter perspective than when you have grounds to terminate an employee for his conduct” but can’t do so because of a third party.
“As chief, I think now is the time to step away from that and start anew,” Arradondo said.
Among the reforms he is pushing for are examinations about the roles of supervisors, the discipline process, and the use of force, according to Fox News. The chief added that the department will “implement new procedures so that department leaders can identify early warning signs of misconduct.”
“Race is inextricably part of the American policing system,” he said. “We will never evolve in this profession if we do not address it head-on.”
Arradondo, who is black, said that ever since he joined the Minneapolis Police Department, he realized that parts of it “were broken.”
“I did not abandon this department then, and I will not abandon this department now,” he said. “History is being written now, and I am determined that we are on the right side of history.”
His department is at the center of the movement drawing attention to police brutality and systemic racism that began after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was filmed being pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on Memorial Day. Video of the encounter shows Floyd begging for air before falling unconscious while Chauvin continues to kneel on his neck for almost three minutes after he became unresponsive. Floyd died in police custody.
Chauvin was fired and has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The three other officers who were involved in detaining Floyd, who was suspected of using a fake $20 bill, were also terminated and charged with aiding and abetting murder.
