Medaria Arradondo was chief of the Minneapolis Police Department when George Floyd was murdered on May 25, 2020. His death sparked protests, riots, a racial justice movement — and was the major force behind police reform efforts in Minneapolis and beyond.
As U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi's Department of Justice now seeks to drop the proposed consent decree made between former Attorney General Merrick Garland's department and Minneapolis police in the murder's aftermath, Arradondo says it's important for people to understand the city's history of police reform.
"It was back in 2003 that the city of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department, and then the Police Community Relations Council, which is now the Unity in Community Mediation Team, headed under the leadership of Rev. Ian Bethel, they laid out an absolutely groundbreaking, innovative memorandum of agreement with the Minneapolis Police Department that really touches on a lot of the key points that frankly a federal consent decree would of enacted anyway," Arradondo said.
He says topics like use of force, de-escalation, cultural competency and officers' mental wellness were being addressed nearly two decades before Floyd's death at the hands of now-ex officer Derek Chauvin.
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Medaria Arradondo WCCO
But he believes the city is now at a crucial crossroads.
"I absolutely think that this is a transformational opportunity for the people of Minneapolis and the MPD to forge a trust-based agreement, rooted in substantive change," he said. "And I believe that the leadership and the solutions are right here, right now, and the people of Minneapolis and within the MPD to make that happen."
Nekima Levy Armstrong, a police accountability activist, says the community needs to continue to use their voices and apply pressure where needed when it comes to police reform.
"One of the things that's a positive for our city is the fact that the Minnesota Department of Human Rights undertook an investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department after George Floyd was murdered, and they entered into a consent decree with the city of Minneapolis, which has been in place for two years," Levy Armstrong said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey promises to continue the work on police reform, a promise Levy Armstrong plans to make sure he sticks to.
"He claims that they will implement the terms of the federal consent decree even without federal oversight," she said. "However, we need to hold him to account for the promises that he made."
In a statement, the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis says it hopes to move forward with "reforms that are driven by the realities of policing, not just politics or headlines."
Reg Chapman
Reg Chapman joined WCCO-TV in May of 2009. He came to WCCO from WNBC-TV in New York City where he covered an array of stories for the station including the Coney Island plane crash, the crane collapse on the city's east side, 50 shots fired at motorist Sean Bell by New York Police, and a lacrosse team assault at Fairfield High School in Connecticut.