For the record, I support the Mayor's concern about the Police Chief and his--the Mayor's--exploration of ways to expedite a change in Police leadership. During the closing year of the ancien regime it was a mistake to re-up the Chief for three years, in the face of strongly expressed dissent, and now it will be detrimental to the city to have a lame duck (and widely denigrated) Chief for 20 more months.
I think our Mayor has articulated several weaknesses of the present Chief. The Mayor said the Chief has not been helpful in the budget trimming work that all City Departments have had to undertake. The Mayor also said that the Chief has not been around to publically explain (or defuse or apologize for?) the several incidents where his Department has been widely criticized for over zealous if not inappropriate and overly violent responses to a mentally ill man, Critical Mass, and the Gopher victory turmoil. The Mayor or Police PR people shouldn't have to do it. I am surprised that the Council does not see a serious problem with the Chief's management (or lack of management) of the Department. Anyway, if we have to orbit for another 20 months before we can get a Chief who can win the respect of the officers and of our diverse communities, I hope the Mayor and Council make sure the current Chief is put to work on those things that he is good at AND that move the ball down the field. Since he is likely a short-termer I wonder why, according to the Stribe, he is "headed to Washington, D.C., to meet with federal officials to discuss efforts to counter terrorism." Let's send people who will be around awhile. I'd say, let's heighten the visibility and authority of our Inspectors and Deputy Chief(s) for a while (sort of extended job interviews?), and get the Chief riding a desk and spending more time on the budget trimming assignment that he apparently has been avoiding. Alan Shilepsky Downtown _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
