Derek Chauvin, the police officer who
killed George Floyd, an African American, “has 18 complaints on his official
record, two of which ended in discipline from the department including official
letters of reprimand.” [1]
Another officer involved, Tou Thao, “was sued, along with another officer in
2017 for excessive use of force, a case whose final terms were sealed as terms
of the settlement.”
According to the lawsuit against Thao, one
Lamar “Ferguson and a woman who was eight months pregnant were walking home
when Thao and” the other officer, Robert “Thunder stopped and searched them
without cause. The officers handcuffed Ferguson, and Thao threw him to the
ground and began punching him, while Thunder kicked him, according to the
allegations.” [2]
“In a Facebook video that emerged Tuesday,
Mr. Floyd can be seen being pinned to the ground by…Chauvin, who has his knee
on Mr. Floyd’s neck. Other footage later emerged showing two other officers
sitting on Mr. Floyd’s body. Mr. Floyd is heard pleading that he can’t breathe,
and eventually loses consciousness. A fire department crew called to assist
found paramedics working inside an ambulance on ‘an unresponsive, pulseless
male,’ a fire department report said. Mr. Floyd was pronounced dead later that
evening.”
Meanwhile, “Hennepin County Attorney Mike
Freeman, the official responsible for bringing charges, said that by itself,
the video—which has circulated on social media—won’t necessarily be enough
evidence on which to base a criminal case.” The U.S. “Justice Department said
it has made the investigation a priority, assigning experienced prosecutors and
FBI criminal investigators to the case to probe whether the officers willfully
violated Mr. Floyd’s civil rights,” but bringing “federal civil-rights charges
against police is a challenge, as prosecutors must reach a difficult standard
of proof that requires them to establish that an officer not only acted with
excessive force but also willfully violated someone’s constitutional rights.”
Three things come to mind. The first is,
why were Chauvin and Thao still police officers? Police officers, for the sake of
civic peace, need to be blameless when it comes to their conduct. It may be a
high standard, but they are allowed to carry firearms in public, and are given
special dispensation for the application of force. Chauvin was disciplined
twice. Thao had already used excessive force. It makes no sense that people who
can’t manage to conduct themselves properly should be permitted to wear a badge
and carry a gun.
The second is this: why do we place the
question of whether felonious charges will be brought on the state level in the
hands of one official? At common law, which we inherited from England, the
issue was put before a grand jury. And it wasn’t the sort of grand jury we see
today, which are basically rubber stamps for whatever the prosecutor wants. A
grand jury had actual investigative power, and they weren’t limited to looking
into whatever some government official chose to put before them. Anyone could
bring a case before the grand jury. We need to bring those grand juries back in
every state, and prosecutors should be required to go forward with any
indictments they issue. This will be especially useful where prosecutors feel
uncomfortable because of perceived institutional connections with the accused.
And while we’re at it, why do we need professional
prosecutors at all? Just appoint attorneys to serve as prosecutors for each
case, like many localities do for public defenders. Serving as only a prosecutor
or a defense attorney has a tendency to unbalance one’s perspective anyway, and
this would be a remedy for that particular psychological issue.
The third thing that comes to mind is that,
at long last, prospective police officers need to be checked for racism before
they get a badge. Racism is stupid, and the last thing we need is stupid people
walking around with handguns and other weaponry.
Legislators take note.
