Protests around the country are still taking place more than a week after George Floyd died on a Minneapolis street at the hands of law enforcement. Locally, we have not seen organized protests or violence related to the incident. Carroll Police Chief, Brad Burke, says this does not, however, signify a lack of caring or concern. He talks about his initial reaction.
He says his officers have not had a chance to gather and discuss this as a group, but individual conversations are taking place. They are all feeling the same thing and the key takeaway is they need to be aware of what is happening at all times and be sure they are doing the right thing.
It is unrealistic to expect that law enforcement officers can go through an entire career without having to use force. Burke says most of his team has been faced with those situations at least one time, and using force, he says, is part of the nature of the job. He adds at some time, someone is going to try to fight an officer or they are needed to break up a violent altercation between others. However, there are safe ways to do it without putting someone’s life at risk.
Burke says every Carroll officer is equipped with a Taser, which actually can help keep them from having to utilize physical force to detain a subject.
The Carroll PD has a policy that any and all uses of force are reviewed by a supervisor and that is transferred to Burke who reviews it again. Burke says if they see patterns or other signals that something is not right, they are able to take action quickly. And as he watches the unrest spread across the country, he says he and his officers agree with the peaceful protestors.
If a peaceful protest were to happen in Carroll, Burke says they want it to stay non-violent and free from looting. They may have an officer or officers present to keep any issues from escalating into something physical, but if that does happen, they will rely on other area law enforcement agencies for support. Burke says he is saddened by the reports he is seeing of attacks on innocent people and other law enforcement individuals.
Burke says they stand with everyone and disagree with what happened in Minneapolis. He would ask all people out there when they see him and his officers to treat them the same as they would anyone else. His officers are not bad people, they are out there doing a job. Coming to work every day, doing the right thing and keeping their residents safe. On the other side of that coin, members of the general public need to look to themselves, Burke says. What can they do to be better people? Do they have a bias that needs to be corrected now and what can they do to help create a better community? A link to the full interview with Chief Burke can be found below.
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Link to full interview with Carroll Police Chief, Brad Burke: https://www.1380kcim.com/episode/kcim-interview-carroll-police-chief-brad-burke-7/
