Mayor Jacob Frey: Worldwide change must start in Minneapolis

George Floyd's young daughter Gianna declared that her dad is going to "change the world." Those words struck a note of hope that reverberated across not just our city but the entire country.

In the last two weeks, a chorus of diverse and diverging views on the future of public safety and policing have emerged. But one common thread running throughout each of those views? George's family is right: What happened to their father and their brother will change the world. That change must start in Minneapolis.

We need to move forward with the urgency the moment demands and the deliberation required to get overdue reforms right.

Let's start with continuing the push to shift police culture.

J.J. Scott Thomson, the former president of the Police Executive Research Forum, recently noted that, "Within a Police Department, culture eats policy for breakfast." He's right, and our ability to deal with the officers who build the culture is limited. The Minneapolis Police Federation has for decades worked to resist changes that would allow for effective disciplinary measures or termination.

Presently, if Chief Medaria Arradondo fires an officer, that decision is nearly as likely to be overturned through arbitration as it is to stick. Successful leaders and managers — in any workplace — need a full range of proven tools to help their organization thrive. Sometimes that includes discipline or even termination.

We need to use a scalpel, not an ax, to fix this broken piece of the arbitration process embedded in state law.

The House is taking a closer look at how arbitrators are selected and their qualifications. That's a fine start. But it's even more important that the state addresses the core problem: arbitrators' authority to reverse or reduce disciplinary decisions.

Lawmakers should update state statutes to completely remove arbitrators' authority to reverse or reduce the discipline imposed by police chiefs when the employer demonstrates that a peace officer engages in gross misconduct. Examples of such conduct could include engaging in unreasonable use of force, providing an untruthful formal statement or failing to intervene when witnessing another officer use unreasonable force.

In the meantime, we're pursuing new ways to help shape officer conduct in the line of duty.

A new officer's conduct and overall approach to the job can be profoundly shaped by their partner — for better or worse. Researchers at Northwestern University thoroughly reviewed the records of Chicago police officers named in multiple complaints from 2007 to 2015 to understand the role officers play in shaping the likelihood of misconduct among their peers. One key takeaway: An officer exposed to the use of excessive force is more likely to be named in such complaints in later years. In other words, bad behavior begets bad behavior.

We need smarter guidelines around pairing new officers to help curb this "social transmission" of misconduct. That's why we're proposing a policy to limit new officers' exposure to those who have a history of sustained misconduct complaints.

Chief Arradondo announced last week that the department is moving forward with a first-of-its-kind, research-backed early intervention system. The new system includes a series of predictive models and algorithms that can more precisely identify high-risk conduct and allow supervisors to intervene earlier.

Our commitment to the new program's success needs to be cemented in policy.

That's why we're strengthening our use-of-force reporting requirements to consistently feed more data points into the system. Our officers will now be required to report, among other things, when they draw or point a firearm, manipulate an individual's joints, or use escort holds. The new data collected coupled with the new system will help supervisors see in real time which officers need early intervention to get them back on track and which officers should no longer be police.

Finally, we're in this for the long haul and we know the hard work of transforming public safety will require community leadership and support. Last week we announced the creation of three task-forces that will feature community members, national experts and local government leaders. Each new group will bring to bear their experience and expertise to help shape new initiatives and policy recommendations.

Since its inception, our criminal justice system has failed communities of color. Now for the first time in generations, we have the necessary momentum on our side to change that very system. George Floyd's pleas for help went unanswered, but we can honor his memory and his family's words by answering their call: Changing the world starts here, in Minneapolis.