The REAL Reason George Floyd Was Murdered: A Brief Look
If only one of the four officers had been properly trained, the murder of George Floyd would not have happened.
It’s easy to jump to racism as the only issue here without contributing something to the conversation, so I want to offer a deeper explanation along with a solution.
The reason this keeps happening is a lack of leadership and personal responsibility on the part of law enforcement. Less than 10% of law enforcement officers seek proper additional training, and no one is requiring them to do so.
This is not meant to demonize police officers. They aren’t paid adequately for the job they do, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be put in the situations they find themselves in.
The vast majority are people of integrity with a mission to serve, and I’m grateful to train with some of them. They know they are exponentially more effective at their job than an officer who doesn’t train.
A well-trained officer is a massive benefit to the community, and actually prevents instances like these from happening. I can’t imagine a world exists where one of my training partners would allow their colleague to do something like this.
All it takes is the simple knowledge of the difference between a blood choke and an air choke to know that applying this much pressure to someone’s neck for this long is a fatal move.
For those who think this officer intended to kill Mr. Floyd: I highly doubt he was willing to commit murder knowing he was being filmed.
Did it stem from racism? Was it a failure of training?
Or was it both?
All I know is I’m glad the appropriate action was taken in the firing of the four, and hopefully Mr. Floyd’s family will get the justice they deserve.
Every officer owes it to the people they protect and serve to seek training beyond what is offered. Can’t do it? Don’t have the time? Turn in your badge.
Go to YouTube right now and you’ll find hundreds of videos of officers who have no clue how to control another human, many of them resulting in horrific videos like the one we witnessed today.
Again, this isn’t a shot at officers, but the system they are a part of. Making all officers responsible for the actions of these four is not the solution.
The fact remains: A well-trained officer has a higher percentage chance of going home to his or her family at night, as well as making sure you can go home to yours.
