The issue in the Minneapolis police shooting

[TygrBright]

52. With respect, MM... while I agree this is at the core of ALL police-on-citizen violence...

...with respect to this SPECIFIC incident, I believe there's a decades-long history of shitty culture in the Minneapolis Police Department that needs to be nailed to the flagpole, loudly and publicly.

In spite of periodic efforts at cultural reform under various mayors and city councils, the Minneapolis Police Dept has a record of deeply-rooted bunker mentality, entrenched us-vs-them thinking, racism and misogyny that has pervaded every chain of command in every division for decades.

And although I am a deep believer in the positive power of unions and their role in protecting workers, the MPD Federation is obstinately determined to protect and perpetuate this culture in the name of protecting "their" officers. Between MPDF and the division-level leadership protecting each other and their own, officers keep getting away with all kinds of shit.

Now add in the man-bites-dog aspect of a rookie brown-skinned officer killing a blonde white woman and the wagon-circling is going far into Bizarro Galaxy, but the one place they WILL NOT GO is into the systemic cultural us-vs-them mentality that pervades officer recruitment, selection, training, supervision, and disciplinary processes.

MPD isn't the only police department to have this problem, certainly. But in Minnesota, they are the big turd in the punchbowl. St. Paul PD, for all its issues, has always been a little more successful at community-centric policing.

DON'T get me started on the exact opposite juxtaposition of the Twin Cities' Fire Departments, but suffice to say maybe MPD could learn a thing or two from their Fire Department, which has done a better job with staff management and organizational culture overall. And St. Paul Police could certainly teach their city's asshole Fire Department executive management a thing or two on the same topics.

In short, it's a LEADERSHIP issue, and that's where I'd start.

But yeah, the overall firearms discipline training and supervision also needs heavy-duty attention and rigorous upgrading.

diffidently,
Bright