Entire Minnesota City Police Force Resigns as 'Defund Police' Calls Still Echo Following George Floyd Fallout
In the state where the “Defund the Police” movement was born after the 2020 death of George Floyd, one community may actually see its police department vanish after all department members resigned.
The members of the Goodhue City Police Department in Minnesota cited “lack of pay” and recruitment issues, according to lawofficer.com.
The city’s website shows the department has a chief and two full-time officers.
Police Chief Josh Smith resigned Wednesday, with the other members resigning Friday the report said. The city called a special counsel meeting for Monday to address the resignations, with a meeting notice citing “Chief Smith, Officer Brecht and part-time officers resignations,” “pay increase” and “current status of the current police department” as discussion items.
According to KIMT-TV, citing Robert J.V. Vose, Goodhue County City Attorney, Chief Josh Smith discussed pay with the city council last week and resigned after the council said it could keep talking about the issue this week.
The city does not believe this is a negotiation tactic, Vose said. The city may contract with the county sheriff for law enforcement.
“The option the city has that’s obviously available to it I think is that the city contract with the Goodhue County Sheriff’s office to provide local police services,” Vose said.
The Post Bulletin reported that Goodhue Mayor Ellen Anderson Buck said Chief Smith “has accepted a position with the Lake City Police Department.”
“I have been in contact with the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Department and will be bringing information before the council on Monday evening. I want to reassure the residents of Goodhue we will have law enforcement coverage in the interim,” she said.
Police are battling against multiple factors, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard of Michigan said, according to CandGNews.
“The perception of police on the national stage also has been horrible. Any officer who has acted inappropriately should, obviously, be held accountable, but this is a small number of officers, but that impression has washed over all officers. People are asking why they would want to go into a field where they would have to deal with this perception,” Bouchard said.
“I see it similar to the Vietnam vets, who came home after serving and were demonized. I have seen businesses and restaurants that refuse to serve cops. … I want people to know that the person who hates a bad cop the most is a good cop,” he said.
Pat Nelson, chair of the Minnesota State University law enforcement program, said interest in entering the field is lagging, according to Police1.
“It seems like there’s such a negative view of people who are in criminal justice by the general population,” Nelson said. “Even friends and family are pressuring them to not do that because of the negative view of the public.”
That kind of negativity was blamed for the defeat of a proposal to address the deficit in the Gladwin County Sheriff’s Department in Michigan, according to WJRT-TV.
“The community has spoken, and you know, effectively it’s a defund-the-police locally, that’s the way I am taking it,” Gladwin County Sheriff Mike Shea said.
“Let’s put it quite frank that there will be gaps in the schedule, and you will get no one,” he said.
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