STEPS THAT REALLY HELPED MONDAY ON LOCAL 4 NEWS TODAY IN STREAMING ON LOCAL 4 PLUS HMM.
SINCE DEREK CHAUVIN KILLED
GEORGE FLOYD NEARLY TWO YEARS
AGO, MANY ANALYSES SHOW THE
NUMBER OF POLICE SHOOTINGS
REMAINS PRETTY CONSTANT. THAT’S
DESPITE INCREASED ATTENTION.
DEBATE LEGISLATION AND OTHER
CALLS FOR REFORM. AND THIS WEEK,
GRAND RAPIDS POLICE RELEASED
VIDEO OF AN OFFICER SHOOTING AND
KILLING PATRICK LEROY, A 26 YEAR
OLD BLACK MAN. LET’S TALK ABOUT
IT WITH FORMER DETROIT POLICE
CHIEF MCKINNON. AND FROM BRIDGE
DETROIT, BRYCE HOFFMAN, WHO
COVERED GRAND RAPIDS FOR YEARS,
AND BRYCE, YOUR MOST RECENT
ARTICLE FOR BRIDGE MICHIGAN, RAN
DOWN THE LAST FIVE YEARS OR SO
OF WHAT GRAND RAPIDS POLICE HAS
GONE THROUGH REGARDING RACIAL
INCIDENTS. TALK ABOUT THAT FOR A
MOMENT. YEAH SO GRAND RAPIDS IS
NOT NEW TO THE CONVERSATION
ABOUT RACE AND POLICING. IN FACT
, THE DEPARTMENT BACK IN 2017
REALLY CAME UNDER FIRE BECAUSE
FIVE UNARMED BLACK BOYS WERE
HELD AT GUNPOINT BY OFFICERS AND
THAT WAS REALLY KIND OF MY
INTRODUCTION TO THE GRAND RAPIDS
POLICE DEPARTMENT. AND THEN THE
NEXT MONTH IN APRIL OF 2017, A
TRAFFIC STUDY CAME OUT THAT
SHOWED THAT BLACK DRIVERS WERE
TWICE AS LIKELY TO GET PULLED
OVER AS WHITE DRIVERS. SO IT WAS
A LOT OF COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
ABOUT RACIAL BIAS IN POLICING.
AND THEN YOU KNOW, THROUGH THE
NEXT FIVE YEARS, INCIDENTS KEPT
HAPPENING. WHERE BRAND RAPIDS
POLICE OFFICERS THAT NEITHER
ARREST AIM A GUN AT FOR HANDCUFF
AN UNARMED BLACK CHILD OR
TEENAGER, AND THEN THERE WAS
OBVIOUSLY THE INCIDENT WHERE
GRAND RAPIDS POLICE ARRESTED A
COMBAT VETERAN MARINE COMBAT
VETERAN UM, WHO YOU KNOW, HAD
ALL THE IDENTIFICATION
IMPOSSIBLE TO SHOW THAT HE WAS A
U S CITIZEN, BUT THEY STILL
ARRESTED HIM AND TRY TO DEPORT
THEM. SO THE DEPARTMENT, YOU
KNOW, HAS BEEN WORKING ON TRYING
TO FIGURE THESE THINGS OUT. BUT
YOU KNOW, FIVE YEARS OF EFFORTS
, WHICH INCLUDE HAVING
CONSULTING FIRMS COME IN AND
MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS. REALLY
BEING HELD UNDER THE FIRE BY THE
COMMUNITY THAT BEING VERY
PUBLICLY SCRUTINIZED BY THE
COMMUNITY. A LOT OF THAT, YOU
KNOW, FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE FEARED
FEEL LIKE IT HASN’T REALLY
RESULTED IN ANY CHANGE. YEAH I
WAS GOING TO SAY, IN YOUR
ESTIMATION. HAVE THEY MADE ANY
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS? I MEAN,
OBVIOUSLY, WHAT HAS JUST
HAPPENED WOULD SUGGEST NO. BUT
WERE THEY MAKING ANY INROADS AT
ALL? DO YOU THINK I THINK THEY
WERE MAKING SOME INROADS. BUT
ONE OF THE THINGS I’VE BEEN
TELLING PEOPLE FOR A LONG TIME.
REFORM IS HARD. IT TAKES BIG
CHANGES. IT’S IT TAKES CHANGING
THE WAY PEOPLE THINK ABOUT
POLICING AND THE WAY THAT PEOPLE
THINK ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY, AND
THOSE THINGS DON’T HAPPEN
OVERNIGHT OR EVEN OVER THE
COURSE OF FIVE YEARS. SO WHEN
YOU LOOK AT A CITY LIKE GRAND
RAPIDS THAT ACTUALLY HAS BEEN
TRYING TO DO THINGS AND THOSE
THINGS STILL AREN’T ENOUGH. IT
REALLY MAKES YOU QUESTION. YOU
KNOW, WHAT ARE THINGS LIKE IN
CITIES THAT HAVEN’T EVEN
BOTHERED TO TRY TO CHANGE OR
HAVEN’T EVEN REALLY BOTHERED TO
EXAMINE. UH RACIAL BIASES AND
RACIAL TENSIONS AND WE DON’T
KNOW THE NAME OF THE OFFICER
INVOLVED IN THIS SHOOTING. BUT
WE DO KNOW HE’S BEEN AT THE
DEPARTMENT FOR SEVEN YEARS. SO
ALL OF WHAT YOU JUST RE CAPTAIN.
I WANT TO BRING YOU INTO THIS.
IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE FULL
CONTEXT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THIS,
AND OBVIOUSLY THE DEPARTMENT’S
HISTORY IS PART OF IT. BUT WHEN
YOU LOOK AT THIS VIDEO, UM WHAT
STANDS OUT TO YOU WHEN YOU SEE
HOW THIS WENT DOWN? WHAT WHAT
STANDS OUT FOR ME IS THE MINDSET
OF THIS OFFICER. YOU KNOW YOU
YOU STOPPED THE PERSON AND FIRST
OF ALL, IT’S LET’S ASSUME MR
MISDEMEANOR INITIALLY AND LET’S
KEEP THIS INCIDENT AT A LOW
LEVEL SO THAT ONE HAS NOT RAISED
IT. SO THE SECOND LEVEL AND
THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED
THERE. I MEAN, HE TELLS HIM TO
GET TO STAY IN THE CAR, AND HE
YELLS AT HIM AND THE STEPS OUT
OF THE CAR, AND THEN HE GOES
OVER THERE SOME CONVERSATION AND
THEN APPARENTLY, HE DECIDES HE’S
GOING TO ARREST HIM. NO. I
ALWAYS SAY TO PEOPLE, LET’S
DEESCALATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO ARREST
HIM? BOY? WE KNOW THAT THERE WAS
A LICENSE PLATE ISSUE, BUT LET’S
TALK ABOUT THIS. IS IT NECESSARY
TO TAKE IT TO A DIFFERENT LEVEL
AND THAT’S WHERE IT WENT TO. SO
THIS GOVERNMENT TAKES OFF
RUNNING AND HE GOES AFTER HIM,
AND THEN IT GOES TO A DIFFERENT
LEVEL. AND OF COURSE WE GET TO
THE POINT WHERE HE’S TACKLED
HIM. HE’S DOWN ON THE GROUND.
AND HE’S GOT HIS LEFT ARM AROUND
HIS NECK. HE REACHES BEHIND HIM.
TO GET HIS GUN. I THOUGHT
INITIALLY HE WAS GOING TO TRY
AND GRAB HIS HANDCUFFS. BUT HE
GRABBED HIS GUN AND HE SHOT HIM
IN THE HEAD. THAT’S THE ULTIMATE
IN ESCALATION THERE. YEAH
SOMETHING I’VE HEARD JUST TO
JUMP IN. I GOT FOR LAW
ENFORCEMENT MENTIONED THIS
POSSIBLE THREAT OF HIM HAVING
HIS HAND ON THE OFFICERS TASER
AND I KNOW THERE’S ANOTHER GUY
IN THE VEHICLE THAT IS THERE.
HE’S GOT TO WORRY ABOUT THAT,
BUT IS IT AGAINST TRAINING FOR
AN OFFICER TO NOT JUST BACK OFF
BACK AWAY FROM THE SITUATION? IS
THAT NOT PART OF WHAT AN OFFICER
IS TAUGHT. I LEARNED A LONG TIME
AGO AND WE WERE TAUGHT DE
ESCALATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
YOU LOOK, IS IT SO IMPORTANT
THAT YOU WOULD LOCK A PERSON UP
FOR THIS KIND OF THING OR TO
TAKE IT TO A DIFFERENT LEVEL,
AND WE HAVE TO BE MINDFUL OF THE
KIND OF PEOPLE THAT WE BRING
INTO THIS FIELD? LAW
ENFORCEMENT? I THINK YOU KNOW
WHAT I DID THIS ARTICLE WITH
GEORGE FLOYD COULD HAVE BEEN ME
ABOUT A YEAR OR SO AGO AND I
TALKED SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE
PEOPLE THAT WE HIRED TO BRING
INTO LAW ENFORCEMENT. WHAT’S
THEIR MINDSET? HOW DO THEY TALK
TO PEOPLE? HOW DO THEY LOOK AT
PEOPLE? AND THAT’S THE MOST
IMPORTANT IF WHAT I SAW HERE IS
THAT THIS OFFICER IN MY OPINION?
AH! TOOK THIS TO THIS LEVEL
WHERE THERE WAS GOING TO BE, UH
WELL LITERALLY WORRIED WHERE IT
LED TO YEAH, RIGHT. I KNOW. WE
JUST TALKED A MOMENT AGO ABOUT
INROADS. DOES THIS UNDO ANY
PROGRESS THAT WAS MADE? AND WHAT
FALLOUT DO YOU SEE FROM WHAT
HAPPENED? YOU KNOW, I THINK
THERE’S TWO WAYS WE CAN LOOK AT
THIS. THERE’S THE INROADS THAT
CITY ITSELF HAS MADE LIKE CITY
ELECTED OFFICIALS HAVE MADE AS
FAR AS YOU KNOW, HAVING THIS
TRUST WITH THE COMMUNITY. AND
THEN THERE’S WHAT HAPPENS ON THE
POLICE DEPARTMENT SIDE WHERE THE
POLICE DEPARTMENT ALSO AS TO
REBUILD AND REGAIN TRUST WITH
THE COMMUNITY, I THINK ON THE
CITY LEVEL A LOT OF CITY
OFFICIALS ARE STANDING WITH
RESIDENTS NOW IN A WAY THAT THEY
WEREN’T BEFORE. THEY WEREN’T
BACK IN 2020 FOLLOWING THE
GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS THAT YOU
KNOW DID GET VIOLENT A LITTLE
BIT AND DID HAVE PROPERTY
DESTRUCTION. SO FAR. LUCKILY
THESE PROTESTS HAVE BEEN
COMPLETELY PEACEFUL, BUT CITY
OFFICIALS ARE WILLING TO
RECOGNIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE
WE WEREN’T AS AGGRESSIVE IN
TRYING TO HOLD THE DEPARTMENT IN
CHINA. THE DEPARTMENTS THAT I
WOULD SAY THAT A LOT OF THAT
PROGRESS. UM WHENEVER PROGRESS,
THERE WAS NO LONGER TANGIBLE,
PALPABLE FOR RESIDENTS OF THE
CITY, OR EVEN SOMEONE LIKE ME
WHO DOESN’T LIVE IN BRANDON.
YEAH I ONLY HAVE A FEW SECONDS
LEFT. BUT I JUST A QUICK ANSWER
. WE’RE SEEING A LOT OF
DEPARTMENTS NOW CHANGING THEIR
WHOLE STANCE ON EVEN PULLING
PEOPLE OVER FOR SMALL INCIDENTS
, A SMALL INFRACTIONS. DO YOU
THINK THAT’S GOING TO BE AND I
ONLY HAVE 20 SECONDS? DO YOU
THINK THAT’S THE WAVE OF THE
FUTURE HELD, BUT THEY’VE GOT TO
BE MINDFUL THE KIND OF PEOPLE
ARE WHO THEY ARE HIRING TO DO
THE JOB AS LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICERS. IT’S NOT AN US VERSUS
THEM TYPE SITUATION. BE MINDFUL
OF WHO YOU HIRE, GENTLEMEN, I
REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR THOUGHTS.
I CERTAINLY HOPE WE DON’T HAVE