In response to N.I. Krasnov's assertion that the Minneapolis police are NOT responsible for protecting the citizens and visitors of our city, I did some looking around. As far as I can tell, at least from reviewing state statutes and city ordinances, Krasnov is right. Go figure.
However, when I started looking into training for police officers, I discovered something interesting. Curriculum development for law enforcement is overseen by the state POST board, with POST standing for Peace Officer Standards and Training. Their job is to make sure that the various higher education institutions that offer law enforcement degrees all maintain some basic standards. So shock me out of my pants when I go look at the law enforcement professional licensing program offered at MCTC. The curriculum includes several classes that might be expected for cops, like criminal investigation, patrol operations and legal issues in law enforcement, but before cops-in-training get to this good stuff, they have nine prerequisites they have to take, including Introduction to Sociology, American Minority Relations, Family Violence, Applying Psychology and my personal favorite, Police and Community, which sounded so intriguing, I went and looked up the course description: LAWE 1215 3 credits Police and Community (3 lec) This course addresses the affect-oriented aspects of contemporary law enforcement. Specific topics include crime prevention, police-community relations, ethical decision making, cultural diversity, bias-motivated crimes, and interpersonal communications. So it would seem that our officers are receiving at least some of the kind of training I wished for, though I'd still like to see them getting some language immersion and apparently, cops aren't being held accountable if they fail to demonstrate what they should have learned from their training. But more importantly, based on the curriculum they take, it would appear that the state POST board does not share Krasnov's expectation that our police officers be "soldiers." So just where is that mentality coming from? Is it coming from Robert Olson? From John Delmonico? From thugs like Mike Sauro and Charlie Storlie egging each other on to "crack some heads" or "show 'em who's boss around here" so they can brag about what tough guys they are? Back to Krasnov's post, in response to the request for examples of where the MPD has failed to live up to it's vision, mission and values, which I will repeat for everyone's benefit: Vision: The city of Minneapolis is the safest place to live, work and visit. Mission: Implement effective prevention strategies and reduce crime in collaboration with the community and our criminal justice partners. Values: - Employees are our greatest asset - A workforce that reflects our community - Protection of human rights - Excellence in serving the public - Honesty and integrity - Community and community participation I've found that a comprehensive source of examples is available through the web page for Citizens United Against Police Brutality at http://www.charityadvantage.com/CUAPB/HomePage.asp One can visit the "Stolen Lives" link and find more than two dozen people who have been killed by MPD officers in the past 18 years. Sadly, nearly half of those have been killed in just the past three years. It's almost like reading one of those thriller novels about serial killers and how they tend to kill more and more frequently as their sickness grows. Or, one can go to the "Complaints Against Police Officers" link and find more than two dozen officers, complete with badge numbers, who have had complaints made against them. Click on the officer's name and you can see case numbers and findings. Many of them have multiple complaints listed. One that I saw had eleven if both reports with internal affairs and reports with the civilian review authority are counted. Reportedly, none of the claims could be substantiated. Does anyone really think there's going to be eleven different situations where someone is going to make up a story about getting brutalized where they all involve the same cop? Oh, <PLEASE>.... Just how many anecdotes does it take to get to the heart of the police brutality problem in this city? Mark Snyder Windom Park TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
