George Floyd protests: civil rights groups sue Trump and Barr for use of teargas outside White House –

There will inevitably be a huge focus on what happens now with the Minneapolis police force.

In his 2017 swearing-in ceremony he spoke of restoring trust. But George Floyd’s death has raised questions about whether Arradondo — or any chief — can fix the department.

The city’s own data going back to 2015 shows that when police officers use force, 60% of the time the person they’re dealing with is black, though only 20% of the population is black.

“I think the chief’s heart is in the right place,” City Council member Steve Fletcher said. “But I don’t think this department was ever going to let him get there. I think people understand he was in an impossible situation.”

Fletcher argues that Arradondo was too lenient with discipline in his first year as chief as he worked to build department morale, which made getting rid of problem officers difficult later.

Arradondo’s predecessor, Janee Harteau, was forced out over the fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. She said she received push-back from the union when she was trying to implement reforms and this week she called on police union President Lt. Bob Kroll to resign after his controversial comments.

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights filed civil rights charges related to Floyd’s death and will investigate the Minneapolis Police Department to determine if it has engaged in discriminatory practices, Governor Tim Walz said this week.

Fletcher said he wants to examine whether the police department should be disbanded, saying he believes it’s “so broken it can’t be fixed.”

“I think we need to rebuild from the ground up,” said Fletcher, vice chair of the city’s public safety committee. 

Bob Bennett, an attorney who said he has sued the department “hundreds” of times over police misconduct allegations, said Arradondo probably did the best he could, but the union has more sway than chiefs do over police conduct.

“I know he wants to reform the department as much as anyone I’ve ever met or seen,” Bennett said. “Hopefully this whole mess will bring about some change.”