Cops Accused of “Slowdown”
(Photo: Minneapolis Police Department Facebook page)
Minneapolis police officers filing into the daily roll call at Fourth Precinct headquarters recently got more than the standard debriefing before taking to the streets on the North Side.
Via the Star Tribune:
With shootings rising and arrests plummeting, the precinct’s commander, Inspector Mike Friestleben, erupted—calling officers cowards and accusing them of slacking on the job, according to multiple sources familiar with the episode.
At the root of Friestleben’s anger was an apparent monthslong work slowdown that has resulted in a 51% drop in stops in the Fourth Precinct, along with a 45% drop in arrests.
Through May 2, police records show that 8,504 arrests had been made across Minneapolis. That’s compared with a total of 11,879 arrests during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the number of people who have been stopped, questioned and frisked also has declined nearly 32 percent compared with the same period last year.
Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the union that represents the department’s 850-plus officers, said last week that intense public criticism of police officers after the shooting death last November of Jamar Clark has led to a morale crisis among the rank and file.
“They’re getting in self-preservation mode, and what that means is you’re just going to emergency calls and being nice to everybody,” he said.
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