What happened in Minneapolis should never happen again

What happened in Minneapolis in the last week has shocked the nation, inspiring both mourning and rage: the brutal and unnecessary killing of an unarmed black man happening once again.

I am deeply saddened and appalled by the actions of these officers as anyone who proudly wears the badge should be. Even though the officer involved in the killing of George Floyd has thankfully been arrested for what is clearly a crime, there is little sense of justice for a nation and community grappling with a chronic problem of law enforcement officers abusing the citizens they pledge to protect.

These issues are personal for me. Before I had stars on my collar, growing up in a very rough, poor neighborhood of Philadelphia, I was that young black boy who had been thrown on the ground by police. It was a byproduct of aggressive officers who were not reflective of what we stand for as public servants.

Those experiences motivated me to do better for black and brown kids like myself who need protection and a helping hand, not a knee on their throat.

All it takes is one incident for an entire community to lose trust and connection with those entrusted to protect them. One is too many. Every one of these incidents only further divides our community and erodes trust between law enforcement and the communities we serve.

That’s why, in my 16 months in office leading the Broward Sheriff ’s Office, I have worked hard to bring balance and accountability into this organization and back into this community. On four different occasions, I’ve had to terminate deputies for use of excessive force.

That’s why I’ve made sure that every deputy in our department continues to be trained in de-escalation techniques, along with safe arrest methods, and it’s why we’ve allocated more than $500,000 to a racial equity and implicit bias training program. It’s why we’ve worked so hard to rebuild community trust and have neighborhood support teams working with community leaders on a regular basis to identify problems and solutions for BSO involvement in the neighborhoods we serve. It’s why our deputies now get out of their cars and walk the neighborhoods they protect, as part of our Park, Walk and Talk program, and it’s why we have reformed the body that investigates misconduct and excessive force to make transparent recommendations and hold deputies accountable.

These are steps in the right direction, but they alone are not the solution. We have to continue to do better and to come together to take this on courageously. We should not allow an incident that occurred outside of this state to divide and fragment us. We should speak unified, as a community, against these unacceptable acts of violence. That’s why I pledge as sheriff to continue to work with our communities and hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and accountability. While I am deeply saddened by the death of George Floyd and others killed unjustly, know this: their deaths will not be forgotten.