# At last, responsibility comes to the American police **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 22, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872 "2017-07-22T09:30:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/1 "2017-07-22T09:30:01Z")
After the death of an Australian woman, the senior police officer in Minneapolis has [resigned](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/22/justine-damond-shooting-minneapolis-police-chief-resigns-at-mayors-request), though she had to be asked to do so. I think this is a good thing and senior officers should be held accountable for the actions of the rank and file. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/2 "2017-07-22T09:44:10Z")
And the lady who led the screwed up operation which killed De Menzes is now the Head of the Metropolitan Police. Maybe you guys can learn from the colonies? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/3 "2017-07-22T10:20:21Z")
How different from the home life of our own dear Police, who go around murdering Brazilian electricians, and people with chair legs, and the perpetrators get promoted and given medals. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/4 "2017-07-22T10:40:01Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > How different from the home life of our own dear Police, who go around murdering Brazilian electricians, and people with chair legs, and the perpetrators get promoted and given medals. Not a fan of Cressida Dick then I take it. I went to the De Menezes inquest. The incompetence shown by the people under her command and herself was staggering. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/5 "2017-07-22T14:03:51Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > After the death of an Australian woman, the senior police officer in Minneapolis has [resigned](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/22/justine-damond-shooting-minneapolis-police-chief-resigns-at-mayors-request), though she had to be asked to do so. > > I think this is a good thing and senior officers should be held accountable for the actions of the rank and file. …there are 15,000 police departments in the United States. I don’t think the resignation of a single police chief at one of those departments shows that much accountability at all. Compare [law enforcement in the UK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_the_United_Kingdom) to [law enforcement in the US.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_the_United_States) This sort of resignation would be relatively significant in the UK: but is comparitively insignificant in the States. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/6 "2017-07-22T14:12:21Z")
Just maybe, after a short period of reflection and a session of mandatory self-criticism, she will be given another job no different to the last in another force. The system works ! ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/7 "2017-07-22T14:31:32Z")
My understanding is that the police chief in question is responsible for leading reform in her department, including body cameras, which weren’t used the night in question. She has a long history of dispute with the mayor, who seems to be unpopular. Perhaps they both were. I’d like to hear from Dopers in the area as far as whether her resignation is really a good thing. It’s hard to tell from outside the community. ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/8 "2017-07-22T15:42:32Z")
White women"s lives matter! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/9 "2017-07-23T03:57:45Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > My understanding is that the police chief in question is responsible for leading reform in her department, including body cameras, which weren’t used the night in question. She has a long history of dispute with the mayor, who seems to be unpopular. Perhaps they both were. > > I’d like to hear from Dopers in the area as far as whether her resignation is really a good thing. It’s hard to tell from outside the community. I see in the news, protesters are demanding that the mayor resign too. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/10 "2017-07-23T04:01:11Z")
I live across the river in St. Paul, and I don’t know what the hell is going on over there. I’d like to see an entire chain of command resign, from the chief all the way down to the guy who thought it was a good idea to draw his sidearm as he drove up, but not turn on his body camera. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/11 "2017-07-23T08:20:12Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > And the lady who led the screwed up operation which killed De Menzes is now the Head of the Metropolitan Police. Yes, I was deeply unimpressed when she did not take responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/12 "2017-07-23T09:43:03Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > White women"s lives matter! Yeah, I expect a lot of people downplaying the fact that this sort of accountability didn’t happen until a person of color killed a white person. This just _happened_ to be the last straw. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/13 "2017-07-23T13:29:47Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Yes, I was deeply unimpressed when she did not take responsibility. Oh she did take it. And then dumped as much of it on her team. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/14 "2017-07-23T13:53:17Z")
In my years of observing horror stories like this, one thing I’ve completely lost respect for, is the “head of the department resigns or is fired” trick. Unless it’s done after a thorough investigation proves that it was their incompetence or worse, complicity, that caused the horror, all that such resignations or firings are really for, is to cover up the incident politically, and try to make the general public think the problem was corrected. It obviously worked for the OP, here. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/15 "2017-07-23T16:02:07Z")
Until cops are put in prison or lose their certification and pensions their will be not accountability. At that point they should not be able to be a mall cop or crossing guard. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/16 "2017-07-23T21:07:31Z")
> [@UCBearcats](#): > > Until cops are put in prison or lose their certification and pensions their will be not accountability. At that point they should not be able to be a mall cop or crossing guard. This, or something like it. Shootings of unarmed citizens should be investigated like other murders but even if the officer is found innocent, they should be fired. Shooting an innocent person because you were frightened is unforgivably incompetent for a police officer, and not behavior any municipality should be willing to risk happening a second time. And yeah, the head cop stepping down is just theater. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/17 "2017-07-23T22:38:16Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Yeah, I expect a lot of people downplaying the fact that this sort of accountability didn’t happen until a person of color killed a white person. This just _happened_ to be the last straw. A black police officer named Mohammed who was from Somalia (an African nation that is 99% Muslim). Plus the white woman he killed was photogenic. Human nature sucks sometimes. But if this is what it takes to make people take police brutality seriously, then at least it is something. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/18 "2017-07-23T22:39:43Z")
> [@UCBearcats](#): > > Until cops are put in prison or lose their certification and pensions their will be not accountability. At that point they should not be able to be a mall cop or crossing guard. If the payouts for police brutality start coming out of police pension funds rather than city funds, then you will see departments get serious about stopping police brutality. Right now they have nothing to lose. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/19 "2017-07-23T23:21:16Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If the payouts for police brutality start coming out of police pension funds rather than city funds, then you will see departments get serious about stopping police brutality. Right now they have nothing to lose. Good call on the police pension fund. It might encourage the few good cops to turn in the POS goons they work with instead of covering up and staying silent. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872/20 "2017-07-24T00:47:42Z")
> [@UCBearcats](#): > > Good call on the police pension fund. It might encourage the few good cops to turn in the POS goons they work with instead of covering up and staying silent. So that their pension funds can be lost when the city is sued over the fired cop? Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-responsibility-comes-to-the-american-police/791872.md?page=2)