Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced on Wednesday the immediate withdrawal of his force from contract negotiations with the police union.
Thank Chauvin. No really!! Thanks!! Your actions have finally helped the citizens of Minneapolis.
Does this mean you are turning into a Chauvinist?
All this talk of reform is probably a waste of time. What would work and well is to separate the police pensions from the general state employee fund. And pay all court settlements and fines derived from Police abuse out that fund. Cops themselves will get rid of abusive cops in no time. Or they can pay the insurance premium out of that fund. Let them have some skin in the game like wingnuts like to say.
I live in Michigan, strong union territory, and have been a union member myself in the past. My mother-in-law was a nurse for GM for many years, and she tells stories of guys who got injured on the job, completely intoxicated, but they âcouldnâtâ get fired (one guy was hammered and sleeping up in the ceiling, when the support gave way and he came crashing down).
Union membership and the âprotectionsâ that come with it are supposed to be a privilege, and if you screw up, you lose chump. Unions have never policed themselves they way they should, it should be incumbent upon them to weed out the bad apples, for the sake of the union itself.
ANY union that protects workers who have committed serious misconduct is literally killing itself, but it happens (even with the teachers union, which I was a member of). This is the same type of shit that caused the UAW to lose credibility over the past 25 years (that and massive wholesale corruption). Everyone in Michigan can tell you a story about some jerkoff who committed some sort of major misconduct on the job, but wasnât fired or was ârehired.â
The ability to discipline and remove workers is even more important when talking about law enforcement (which, for reasons I canât explain, seems to attract people who are into violence!) I believe in labor unions, but they really have no one to blame for their demise than themselves. There needs to be an effort to fast-track removal of officers who arenât interested in upholding the âpeace.â This seems like a step in the right direction.
You prolly know this, but:
Nicolas Chauvin (French: [ÊÉvÉÌ]) is a legendary, possibly apocryphal French soldier and patriot who is supposed to have served in the First Army of the French Republic and subsequently in La Grande ArmĂ©e of Napoleon. His name is the eponym of chauvinism , originally a term for excessive nationalistic fervor, but later used to refer to any form of bigotry or bias (e.g., male chauvinism).
I prefer to think that Derek is a direct descendant. 
Exactly. This fundamental flaw of being unable or unwilling to hold accountable those members whose behavior undermines the whole group has been the Kryptonite of Unionism.
Maybe Derekâs family immigrated to Canada from France , and then Canada kicked them to south?
Not in the sexist or nationalist sense. 
Too bad Derek wasnât apocryphal.
I heartily agree. Unions should oppose managementâs arbitrary and capricious actions and abuse of process. But defending members engaged in objectively wrongful behavior is defending the indefensible and poisons political and public perception. (Which is already too easy to do in the U.S.)
That said, it is understandable that certain police officer interactions with members of the public and suspects and criminals can be fraught. However, unless an officer is simply unlucky in his/her interactions wit members of the community, clear patterns can be be sussed out that should raise flags.
Lt. Bob Kroll needs to be stripped of his badge, job, and pension, as step 1 of disbanding the union.
Iâm actually a bit more skeptical about this considering Mayor Frey, against the city council members who want to get rid of the police and start over, is for this.
I actually think this is them trying to save their own skin and try to get a seat at the table to protect the current police department and maintain as much of the status quo as they can. They might agree to some partial reforms but it wouldnât be nearly to the level the city councilors have committed to.
They want to slow or stop the process that the veto proof majority of the city councilors have committed to by appearing to be willing to talk. I hope the city councilors stay united and create a department that will be an example for other cities.
I like the cut of your jib, young man!
Good points!
You actually just did explain it. Itâs the desire to commit violence with little risk of accountability.
Look Iâm pro union through and through, but I donât think police should be bargaining over the use of force policy any more than UAW guys should be designing engines or Teamsters should be saying where the roads go.
Itâs more fundamental than that. Under the federal labor statutes, the union is required to advocate for the employee in virtually all circumstances, or the union (and the employer) can be sued in federal court. You cannor reform the system without changing those laws or exempting public safety unions from their purview.