Beleaguered force gets new chief
Minneapolis mayor quickly replaces city’s top cop amid outcry over police shooting.
He has deep roots in Minneapolis, and on Saturday, Medaria Arradondo began his first full day as the nominee for what will probably be an arduous job: leading the city’s embattled Police Department.
Arradondo, who has served in the department for nearly three decades, has been tapped by Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges to lead the 840-member force as fallout continues from a recent police shooting that has drawn international scrutiny and set off local protests.
It’s the second highprofile police shooting in recent years to cast an uncomfortable spotlight on Minneapolis — only this one led to a shakeup of the department’s command structure.
On Friday, less than a week after an officer shot and killed an unarmed Australian woman, Police Chief Janee Harteau resigned at Hodges’ request.
“The recent incidents do not reflect the training and procedures we’ve developed as a department. I’ve decided I am willing to step aside to let a fresh set of leadership eyes see what more can be done for the MPD to be the very best it can be,” Harteau said in a statement.
Hodges said in a separate statement that she had “lost confidence in the chief’s ability to lead us further” and that it was “clear that [Harteau] has lost the confidence of the people of Minneapolis as well.”
Justine Damond, 40, was shot July 15 after she called 911 to report a suspected rape near her residence. Two officers, Matthew Harrity and Mohamed Noor, responded to the call.
Noor shot Damond in the abdomen through an open squad car window as she approached the cruiser. She died at the scene.
Officials have not explained why Noor fired at Damond, and the officer has refused to speak with state investigators. Late Friday, officials announced that a witness, who was riding on a bicycle in the area around the time of the shooting, has come forward and is cooperating with law enforcement.
The death led to protests in Minneapolis and outrage in Australia, where Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull demanded answers for what he called a “shocking” and “inexplicable” death.
Throughout the firestorm in recent days, Arradondo, who most recently served as assistant chief, has joined Hodges and Harteau in fielding flurries of questions from reporters.
Known to colleagues as “Rondo,” Arradondo was among a group of black officers who sued then-Chief Tim Dolan in 2007, alleging systemic racial discrimination. In 2009, the city settled the case for about $740,000.
“He’s a fifth-generation Minnesotan, and he’s appreciated and well-respected as a police officer,” Raeisha Williams, a City Council candidate for the Fifth Ward and former communications director for the local chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, said of Arradondo in an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday.
Arradondo has served in many roles since he joined the police force in 1989, working as a patrol officer and a school resource officer.
In recent days, Damond’s killing also drew comparisons to other police shootings of unarmed people in the U.S.
In many cases that have been the focus of protests in other cities, the officers have been white and the people shot have been African American. But in this instance, Damond was white and the officer who shot her is Somali American.
Police shootings have become a become a frequent source of tension and conflict in Minnesota in recent years. Last month, protesters again took to the streets in the Twin Cities after Jeronimo Yanez, a police officer with the city of St. Anthony, was found not guilty in the fatal shooting of black motorist Philando Castile.
Damond’s death was the most recent in a series of high-profile incidents that have led to increased criticism of the Minneapolis Police Department. Civil rights groups and activists had called for Harteau’s ouster amid weeks of protests after the police shooting death on Nov. 15, 2015, of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man.
An internal investigation into Clark’s death concluded that Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze followed procedure, and they were not disciplined. In announcing the findings in October, Harteau said, “I can say with absolute certainty that I support the actions of Officers Ringgenberg and Schwarze the night of Nov. 15.”
“Justine’s death was not an isolated incident,” said Nekima Levy-Pounds, a mayoral candidate and past president of the local NAACP. “Her death is a byproduct of a violent, militarized police culture that operates without sufficient checks and balances and accountability.
“Every layer of our system of government has rubber-stamped and reinforced police culture, leaving Minneapolis residents both vulnerable and fearful, and correct in believing that justice is elusive when one’s rights have been violated,” she said.
On social media, activists associated with the Black Lives Matter movement criticized Friday’s swift action against the chief in contrast to the response to police shootings when those killed have been racial minorities.
“It is clear to everyone that Chief Harteau needed to resign after the Minneapolis Police killed Jamar Clark and after the police’s response to the protesters,” DeRay Mckesson, a leader in the movement, said in an interview. “It wasn’t until the police killed a white woman, Justine Damond, that her tenure became politically untenable.”
In what appeared to be a move by the city to quickly move past Harteau, Arradondo’s name appeared as chief on the department’s website Saturday, even though the City Council had yet to confirm him.