Minnesota
Related: About this forumOnce-fired Minneapolis police officer promoted to department training director
https://www.startribune.com/once-fired-minneapolis-police-officer-promoted-to-department-training-director/600143838/David Garman was one of several officials with checkered pasts who have been elevated by interim Chief Huffman.
Garman, a former Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Officer of the Year, is among several officers with blemished records who were recently elevated to leadership positions by interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman. Their promotions were listed in an internal e-mail circulated within the department.
(snip)
The development comes as the department finds itself embroiled in a new controversy, the fatal police shooting of 22-year-old Amir Locke during a no-knock warrant operation last week at a downtown Minneapolis apartment.
In his new role, Garman will oversee training for all incoming rookies as well as current officers. But his appointment drew harsh criticism from Communities United Against Police Brutality, a local watchdog group.
Looks like Reform(TM) is coming along swimmingly.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(23,830 posts)(snip)
Garman was fired by then-Police Chief Tim Dolan in 2009 for his role in a case involving the Metro Gang Strike Force, a unit of metro-area officers that was shut down after revelations of misconduct, including mistreatment of people of color and officers keeping confiscated property for their personal use.
Garman's termination involved a drug house raid in which he and three other Strike Force officers found narcotics and seized at least three cellphones. A fourth Minneapolis officer on the unit involved in the case used the phones.
An internal department investigation found that Garman and two other officers had helped cover up the cellphone use, according to sources at the time.
Garman's termination was headed for arbitration in 2010 when the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis brokered a deal with the department allowing him to receive back pay for all but 30 hours of the seven months he was off MPD's rolls, according to John Delmonico, then president of the federation.
Dolan never disclosed why he rescinded Garman's termination, and Garman has been an influential figure within the Police Federation, where he has served as the union's treasurer and vice president.
He also was named in a 2009 lawsuit over the Strike Force's raid of a house in south Minneapolis after he had allegedly applied for a search warrant. According to the suit, up to 20 officers broke windows, ordered two women to the floor at gunpoint, repeatedly used expletives, destroyed personal property and damaged walls and ceilings.
(snip)
Among the promotions Huffman announced last month was Robert Berry, who was named Third Precinct dogwatch lieutenant. In 2007, Berry was fired for ethical violations, including failure to notify authorities about the misconduct of another officer who was driving drunk.
Berry, who was also barhopping, was reinstated by order of an arbitrator who ruled that he had not been on duty at the time of the incident as department officials had alleged. Berry's termination was reduced to a 40 hour suspension without pay.
In 2019, he was suspended for 60 hours without pay for his 2017 conviction of misdemeanor domestic assault in Hastings. A court placed him on probation for one year, according to a document from the Minneapolis Office of Police Conduct Review and a notice of discipline signed by Arradondo.
It goes on and on.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)I do not go so far as you on the matter of abolition, but certainly destruction of police unions in their current form would do a great deal of good. These seem to exist primarily to shield officers from consequences for criminal and abusive behavior. Lack of meaningful consequences for bad behavior guarantees it will not just persist but prevail. Gresham's Law, that bad money drives out good, applies well beyond economics. Toleration of bad behavior drives out good behavior in any organization. 'Letting off steam' is tempting, it feels good, and unless there is something beyond a personal code to weigh against the pleasurable release, it will be indulged in more and more often. Not everyone has a personal code, not a respectable one anyway....
WhiskeyGrinder
(23,830 posts)Wisconsin taught us just how quickly public unions can be dismantled, as well as the repercussions that holds for private-sector unions. Any attempt to weaken or dismantle cop unions, especially from Democrats, would be carefully studied to determine how to wield it against teachers, municipal workers, etc. I often say we can't be afraid to act because we worry about the right's reaction, but when it comes to suggestions of attacking cop unions, I do fear what those tactics could lead to.
Besides, cop unions enshrine and protect the culture of the police; they're not the source of it.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)But the enshrining and protection of the culture certainly helps perpetuate it.
I have no objection to unionized police, merely to unions that whose chief function is to shield criminal behavior.
Ocelot II
(120,825 posts)*The police union is why, of course; their whole function seems to be to be sure bad cops keep their jobs.