How Police Union Contracts And The Criminal Justice System Combine To Delay Cases Against Cops

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A Minneapolis police officer filmed kneeling on the neck of George Floyd was arrested on Friday, four days after Floyd died.

. None of the other three officers involved have been charged or taken into custody.

Even when there’s video of an incident, investigators will try to collect whatever other evidence might be available, including body camera footage and witness testimony, said Lopez, a former senior official in the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section, which investigates police misconduct. It can take time to convince police officers who may have witnessed an incident involving one of their own to testify for the prosecution, she said.

Sometimes, the reason for a lag in the time between a person dying in police custody and arrests is spelled out in writing. Police union contracts can include provisions that require a waiting period before an officer is interviewed by investigators, which can delay an investigation. Minneapolis police officers involved in “critical incidents” — which include situations where a person dies in police custody — must be given “a reasonable opportunity” to consult with a lawyer before they’re asked to give a voluntary statement to an investigator, according to the labor contract between the city and the police union that expired at the end of 2019. The contract doesn’t specify how much time qualifies as a “reasonable opportunity.

Police officers who kill can also face federal criminal charges for civil rights violations, but federal prosecutors will typically wait to see what state or local prosecutors do first, Lopez said. Federal civil rights cases against police officers can be even harder to prove, she said, since prosecutors have to get inside an officer’s state of mind to meet a higher “willfulness” standard that isn’t required in a state murder case.

 

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Don't forget the role of judges. Read the full op-ed at the Commission on Judicial Performance Reform Project Facebook group: Support the work of the CJPRP Facebook group by joining. JusticeForGeorgeFlyod Minneapolisprotests MinneapolisRiot

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