Minneapolis Police Dept. Withdrawing From Union Negotiations

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis Police Department will withdraw from police union contract negotiations, Chief Medaria Arradondo said Wednesday in announcing the first steps in what he said would be transformational reforms to the agency in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Arradondo said thorough review of the contract is planned. He said the contract needs to be restructured to provide more transparency and flexibility for true reform. The review would look at matters such as critical incident protocols, use of force, and disciplinary protocols including grievances and arbitration.

He said it’s debilitating for a chief when there are grounds to terminate an officer and a third-party mechanism works to keep that person on the street.

“This work must be transformational, but I must do it right,” Arradondo said of reforms.

He also promised new research and strategies to spot and intervene with problem officers.

Arradondo sidestepped a question about whether he thought union head Bob Kroll, often seen as an obstacle to reform, should step down.

Arradondo, the city’s first African American police chief, joined the Minneapolis Police Department in 1989 as a patrol officer, eventually working his way up to precinct inspector and head of the Internal Affairs Unit, which investigates officer misconduct allegations. Along the way, he and four other black officers successfully sued the department for discrimination in promotions, pay and discipline.