The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
CT Police Chief Association president calls incident ‘beyond disturbing’
As protests continued nationwide, reaching the state’s capitol Friday, the president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association expressed concern over the lack of intervention by other officers during the arrest of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier this week.
More than 300 protesters, many of which appeared to be wearing masks, gathered in Hartford late Friday afternoon.
The protests were sparked by Floyd’s death on Monday after a Minneapolis police office knelt on his neck for for more than eight minutes while he was handcuffed, face down and saying he could not breathe.
There have been protests in Denver, New York City, New Mexico, California, Ohio, Florida, Houston, Phoenix, Mississippi and Kentucky. On Friday, protests also popped up in Connecticut and Maine.
At the capitol late Friday afternoon, a peaceful gathering against police brutality was organized by state Senate Democrats, according to CTNewsJunkie.com.
Keith L. Mello — who serves as the chief of the Milford Police Department, the president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and chairman of the Police Officers Standards and Training Council — called the incident “beyond disturbing,” in a statement released late Friday afternoon, saying it “cast a stain over the law enforcement profession.”
The officer, Derek Chauvin, and three others involved in the incident were fired. The 44-year-old Chauvin was charged Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said more charges were possible. He said the investigation into the other three officers continues, but authorities “felt it appropriate to focus on the most dangerous perpetrator.”
Court paperwork alleges that Chauvin, who is white, ignored another officer’s concerns about Floyd, who is black.
The criminal complaint also said an autopsy of Floyd showed nothing to support strangulation as the cause of death. The medical examiner said preliminary findings showed Floyd had “underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease.”
“The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death,” the complaint states. “The defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive. Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous.”
Mello said the behavior of the officers involved reflect “failures in police tactics, judgment and training.”
“Of equal concern is the lack of intervention by other officers on the scene,” Mello said. “We are reminded that we are leaders in our communities, especially during a time of crisis. Our oath and our ethics require us to act whenever we are witnessing an unjust act, even by another police officer.”
He said these actions by officers in Minnesota “erode the layers of trust, confidence and goodwill” so many law enforcement officers in Connecticut have built within their communities.
“Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, this is the foundation of our profession,” Mello said. “Any violation of these core tenets is inexcusable.”
Mello isn’t the state’s only official to speak on the matter.
“My prayers are with George Floyd’s family and the entire Minneapolis community,” Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody said in a statement Wednesday. “As a career member of law enforcement, I am horrified by what I saw on that video. There is simply no excuse. As police officers, we must remember our primary responsibility is public safety and the preservation of life. When someone that wears a badge goes against those principles, the damage is immeasurable and far reaching.”
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said “none of us can stay silent” regarding several recent incidents in a video post on Friday, including the death of Floyd and the arrest of a CNN team Friday morning while covering protests in response to Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.