RECONSTRUCTING DIFFERENT LAW
ENFORCEMENT AND SAFETY
DEPARTMENTS FOR OUR CITY.
>> CONGRESSWOMAN, I AM STRUCK BY
THE BLOCK THAT THE SENATE
PRESENTS TO A LOT OF THE IDEAS
AROUND SUPPORTING THE POLICE AND
CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND POLICING
THE POLICE.
AND ULTIMATELY I THINK YOU WOULD
EVEN AGREE THAT IF IT WERE
POSSIBLE THIS WOULD BE BETTER
DONE ON THE LOCAL LEVEL.
COULD YOU PINPOINT FOR US WHAT
HAS BEEN THE MAJOR PROBLEM OF
REFORMING POLICE AND POLICE
ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE LOCAL
LEVEL AS OPPOSED TO SOME KIND OF
FEDERAL OVERSIGHT WHICH MANY
TIMES ROLLS INTO A COMMUNITY AND
DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S AT
PLAY IN A COMMUNITY.
THE LOCAL FOLKS KNOW BETTER
USUALLY.
SO, AS YOU MOVE TOWARDS A
FEDERALIZATION OF ACCOUNTABILITY
OF POLICE, WHY CAN’T WE GET THIS
BETTER DONE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL?
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
>> YEAH.
THAT’S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.
AND THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, LOCAL
MUNICIPALITIES THAT SOMEONE WILL
SAY HAVE GOTTEN IT RIGHT.
I KNOW CAMDON IS ONE THAT
CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, IS ONE THAT
PEOPLE POINT TO.
OBVIOUSLY MINNEAPOLIS IS DOING
ITS PART IN TRYING TO GET THIS
RIGHT.
BUT WE HAVE TO REALIZE THAT
WE’VE GOT 17,000 LAW ENFORCEMENT
POLICE AGENCIES ACROSS THE
COUNTRY AND WE HAVE SEEN THE
DIFFERENT DISPARITIES THAT EXIST
IN THE WAY IN WHICH THEY ARE
POLICING, THE DIFFERENT
TRAININGS THAT THEY ARE GETTING.
AND IF WE DON’T FIGURE OUT A
FEDERAL WAY OR A NATIONAL WAY TO
STANDARDIZE THESE TRAININGS, TO
MAKE SURE CERTAIN PRACTICES ARE
BANNED AND TO MAKE SURE THAT,
YOU KNOW, REGARDLESS OF WHAT
NEIGHBORHOOD YOU LIVE IN, WHO
YOUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND
YOUR MAYORS MIGHT BE, THAT YOU
HAVE A CERTAIN STANDARD THAT YOU
CAN EXPECT FROM THOSE WHO ARE
TAKING AN OATH TO PROTECT AND
SERVE YOUR COMMUNITY.
>> SO, CONGRESSWOMAN, I’M GLAD
THAT CLAIRE BROUGHT UP LOCAL
COMMUNITY AND MINNEAPOLIS/ST.
PAUL BECAUSE YOU KNOW FIVE YEARS
AGO, SIX YEARS AGO I DON’T THINK
ANY OF US WOULD HAVE EXPECTED
THIS COMING OUT OF MINNESOTA.
AND YET WE SAW
TRAGEDY OF THE SHOOTING AND AT
LEAST FROM MY MEMORIES IT LOOKED
LIKE A POLICE OFFICER PANICKED
AND THEN WE HAD THE TRAGEDY OF
GEORGE FLOYD, NOT A WHOLE LOT OF
PANIC THERE WITH CHAUVIN AND
THEN YOU SAW WHAT HAPPENED THE
TRAGEDY OF DAUNTE WRIGHT, AGAIN,
A 24, 25-YEAR VETERAN OF THE
FORCE, AGAIN, APPEARING TO
PANIC.
POLICE OFFICERS, POLICE
COMMISSIONERS I SPOKE WITH WERE
SHOCKED AT THE TRAINING.
SO, I GUESS MY QUESTION, WHAT IS
IT WITH THE MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL
AREA THAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN AT
THE FOREFRONT, UNFORTUNATELY, OF
THESE TRAGEDIES OVER THE PAST
FOUR, FIVE YEARS.
>> WELL, I DON’T KNOW IF THESE
TRAGEDIES ARE UNIQUELY
MINNESOTAN BUT WHAT IS UNIQUE
ABOUT MINNESOTA IS THAT WE ARE
PEOPLE WHO DON’T LET UP UNTIL WE
GET ACCOUNTABILITY SO OUR LOUD
VOICES ARE WHAT YOU’RE HEARING
AND YOUR DEMANDS FOR JUSTICE IS
WHAT IS PROPELLING OUR CASES TO
THE NATIONAL STAGE.
WE SEE IT HAPPEN IN HOUSTON, IN
LOS ANGELES.
WE SEE IT IN CHICAGO AND OTHER
PLACES AND I DON’T WANT TO SPEAK
ILL OF THE POPULATION THERE, BUT
MINNESOTA, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY
MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL HAS A
UNIQUE POPULATION THAT
UNDERSTANDS, YOU KNOW, AS
CITIZENS WE HAVE, YOU KNOW,
CERTAIN RIGHTS.
OUR VOICE MATTERS AND IT’S
REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO
ENGAGE THOSE WHO WE ELECT TO BE
RESPONSIBLE IN CRAFTING
LEGISLATION TO PROTECT ALL OF US
AND THAT WE, YOU KNOW, ARE
ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN OUR
COMMUNITIES FOR THE BETTERMENT
OF IT.
>> I GUESS A BETTER WAY FOR ME
TO ASK THE QUESTION THAT WAS A
LITTLE BROAD AND AMBIGUOUS AND
CERTAINLY NOBODY WOULD THINK
THIS WAS SPECIFIC, THE PROBLEM
WAS SPECIFIC TO MINNEAPOLIS ST.
PAUL.
A BETTER WAY TO ASK THAT
QUESTION IS, IS THERE A PROBLEM
WITH TRAINING IN MINNEAPOLIS-ST.
PAUL?
IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH THE
POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN THAT AREA
MORE SO THAN SAY OTHER PARTS OF
THE COUNTRY?
>> OH, I MEAN, I THINK -- I’M
NOT SURE.
I HAVEN’T SEEN ANY STUDIES BEING
DONE ON WHETHER, YOU KNOW,
MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICERS GET
LESS TRAINING OR THEIR TRAINING
IS SOMEHOW INADEQUATE.
BUT WHAT I DO KNOW ONE OF THE
REASONS WE HAVE BEEN HAVING A
CONVERSATION ABOUT THE NEED FOR
THE MINNEAPOLIS DEPARTMENT TO BE
DISMANTLED AND FOR US TO FIGURE
OUT A WAY TO START OVER IS
BECAUSE OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT
HAS BEEN HAVING LOTS OF
PROBLEMS, LOTS OF MISMANAGEMENT,
YOU KNOW, THE REFUSAL TO SORT OF
ADOPT REGULAR REFORM MEASURES
THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED OVER THE
YEARS.
AND I THINK THIS CONVERSATION
NAT
THAT THE COMMUNITY IS HAVING IS
A REALLY IMPORTANT ONE AS WE
LOOK FORWARD TO A FUTURE WHERE I
AM NO LONGER ON TV TALKING
ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THOSE WHO