About this course
Overview
In this training program, we examine the incident that might change the course of law enforcement forever. The death of George Floyd and the tactics used by the Minneapolis Police Department are discussed in great detail by our Line of Duty technical advisors.
Opening
It is pretty obvious that the name, George Floyd, will soon brand itself permanently in law enforcement history. As much as Michael Brown, Rodney King, Miranda, Graham, Conner and, quite possibly, more than all of them combined.
The seemingly surreal actions of ex-Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin will, by themselves, become the stuff that is required academy training, likely, now and forever. It will probably become an academy class unto itself.
What could possibly have overwhelmed Chauvin that caused him to keep a knee on 46 year-old George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes. And, nearly two minutes after Mr. Floyd had stopped all verbal communication. He had stopped resisting so why keep him in that position? Of course, so many questions remain unanswered, but this program will laser focus on what the response might have been with sound and appropriate tactics and training.
Reaction from Line of Duty’s Technical Advisors
Retired Lt. Randy Sutton (Las Vegas (NV) P.D.) said it was one of the most disturbing videos he has ever seen when it comes to law enforcement. His first thought was for Chauvin to “get off the man’s neck”. Once “the fight is out of someone”, Sutton says, then it is time to stop the use of force. It didn’t happen in this case.
Retired Sgt. Mark DiBona (Seminole County (FL) S.O.) knew it was bad immediately. He said it did not look good in so many ways. DiBona never wants to second-guess a cop’s actions but felt that the officers on scene should have interceded and sat Floyd up on the seat of his pants so he could get more air. And, then, the officers could have/should have called EMS to help.
Dr. Andrew Dennis (Trauma Surgeon/Cook County(IL)Trauma Center, (Cook County (IL) Sheriff’s Office, Cook County Health) felt that there was a training problem in this instance. He noticed a psychological de-escalation problem also. Officers can have a hard time de-escalating from a fight, he says. The subject was in handcuffs and on the ground so there was no need for the officer to continue with his knee on Floyd’s neck.
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