The death of George Floyd has started a serious conversation about the state of policing and the criminal justice system in this country. Protesters have called on elected officials to hold officers accountable for misconduct and redirect money to fund other programs to build communities.
As demonstrations and conversations of change continue, many police departments are taking a deeper look in how they operate, and instead of staying during the possible changes to police reform, some officers are opting to leave their jobs.
In Minneapolis, at least seven police officers resigned from the department since protests began in late May while more than a half dozen officers and detectives are in the process of quitting.
Police spokesman John Elder doesn’t believe the protests are the only reason the police force is shrinking.
“There’s nothing that leads us to believe that at this point the numbers are so great that it’s going to be problematic,” police spokesman John Elder told a Minneapolis newspaper.
In an open letter last week, 14 members of the Minneapolis Police Department condemned the actions of ex-Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on the neck of George Floyd, causing his death.
“Derek Chauvin failed as a human and stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life. This is not who we are,” said the letter, signed by 14 officers. “We’re not the union or the administration,” the letter says. [READ MORE]
After 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was shot in the back and killed by an officer, Atlanta’s police chief Erika Shields resigned, and eight officers have quit this month. A statement by the Atlanta police department said that so far in 2020, between two and six officers have resigned every month.
The Atlanta police have also been criticized after six officers were exposed on video violently apprehending two HBCU students who were stuck in traffic caused by protests.
Ten SWAT officers with the Hallandale Beach Police in South Florida resigned after expressing safety concerns, saying they weren’t adequately equipped or trained. In their joint resignation statement, they said they feel “restrained by the politicization of our tactics.” They also said they were unhappy that department leaders took a knee with protesters.
Police Chief Sonia Quinones disputed the officers’ claims, saying that increased training hours were increased and that over $100,000 has been provided for equipment over the last two year. Quinones added that she kneeled in solidarity with the community, not in opposition to the police.
The Buffalo Police Department saw almost 60 officers resign from the force’s emergency response team after two police officers were captured in a video pushing a 75-year-old protester to the ground.
The two officers were charged with assault and pleaded not guilty. The elderly protester was seen falling to the ground and bleeding from his head. A lawyer for the injured man says he suffered a fractured skull and is still unable to walk.
“Fifty-seven resigned in disgust because of the treatment of two of their members, who were simply executing orders,” Buffalo Police Benevolent Association president John Evans said in an interview.
