The Institute for American Police Reform Embraces the Chauvin Verdict
NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Our nation learned from Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict in the murder of George Floyd that police officers can be decisively held accountable for their crimes. Police use of force is the most precious endowment of trust by the public to police officers in the preservation of public safety. The breach of such trust comes at a high cost to the public and should always result in accountability for the offending officer.
The Institute for American Police Reform is a non-partisan organization founded and advised by present and former police chiefs, civil and criminal law attorneys, public health officials, and other community leaders. Its goals are to advance standardization in policing laws and policies, police accountability, and national uniformity in police standards, education, and training. We are confident that our Five Pillars of Police Reform© are crucial for comprehensive revisions that can lead to trustworthy and predictable policing nationwide.
Though the jurors of Hennepin County, Minnesota, have found Derek Chauvin guilty of multiple counts of murder and manslaughter, this seminal case has not resolved the resounding evidence that police reform is essential.
Unlike hundreds, if not thousands of incidents involving civilian deaths by law enforcement in America, this criminal case included an extremely rare evidentiary element–a nine minute and twenty-nine second video chronicling the death of George Perry Floyd by former Officer Derek Chauvin.
It should not require a horrifying video detailing a man's death to call the nation to comprehensive reform of American policing. Likewise, it should not require devastated bystander witnesses, global protests, violence ,and destruction, as well as departures from a police cultural norm of self-preservation to call for change and justice. Acceptable policing practices should be publicly predictable—they should be a normal societal expectation.
The death of George Floyd perpetrated through failed policing was not the first murder of its kind in the recent history of American policing, nor is it likely to be the last. But it must be a catalyst for meaningful, systemic change.
The Institute for American Police Reform holds significant hope that community engagement, fair systems of democracy and justice, and political will can result in a reimagining of what policing can be. We believe police are essential to modern society. We likewise believe that police reform is desperately needed—and must begin today.
Contact: Nicholas Sensley, +12026420453, [email protected]
SOURCE Institute for American Police Reform
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