Recently former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts for the May 2020 murder of George Floyd; unintentional 2nd degree murder, 3rd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter. Chauvin was the first white officer in Minnesota to be criminally prosecuted in the death of a black civilian.

The Southern Ulster Times reached out to the Police Chiefs in their readership area for their take on Chauvin and the aftermath of the case.
Marlborough Police Chief Gerald Cocozza said he was not shocked.

“There was string evidence on the video, the guy was crying that he couldn’t breathe [and] the officer should have taken that into account and should have re-positioned him because there was no reason he had to stay on him so long and that causes death,” Cocozza said. “The prosecution did their job; they brought in lots of witnesses, they played the emotions of the bystanders that they brought in as witnesses, they did a good job so I’m not surprised about the conviction.”

Cocozza said once handcuffs were placed on Floyd, further police action to subdue him should have stopped.

“That’s Chauvin’s problem, he had full control of that gentleman and he should never have continued the pressures that he was applying to him, especially since he started complaining that he couldn’t breathe, whatever the excuses the defense tried to use; the gentleman was clearly in some sort of distress and aid should have been rendered and that’s where they failed.”

Cocozza pointed out that this incident was over a $20 counterfeit bill, “pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, in my opinion, and it turned into someone getting killed, never mind hurt, killed.”

Cocozza said Governor Cuomo’s order to review and reform police procedures came on the heels of the death of George Floyd.

“Yes this case did influence that but here in Marlborough we don’t have a use of force problem, we’re not handsy with people [and] we’re not shooting people. We’ve not had a deadly use of force here, not to say we haven’t wrestled with people because we have. But when we do it, it is our policy that we offer medical attention.”

Plattekill Police Chief Joseph Ryan said he conferred with a few former police officers who closely followed the trial, “and for the most part they feel it was a just verdict.”

Ryan touched upon the cell phone tape.

“I personally did not like what I saw. We [law enforcement] all learn at some point about positional asphyxia, especially if its an overweight or large person, you don’t put them on their belly for any extended period of time because it could cause the diaphragm to stop the person from breathing. I think that’s relatively known in law enforcement, in both Police and Corrections, any time you use force like that.”

Ryan said this incident also sheds light on the actions of the other three officers at the scene.

“The reality is if you are a Police officer and you see someone using excessive force, whether you’re working with them or not, it’s your obligation to stop it,” he said. “You have to put camaraderie, and peers and friends aside [because] what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. When you’ve sworn to uphold the law, you’ve got to stop somebody from doing things like that.”

Ryan said Chauvin’s conduct, “was outside the lines of acceptable. I thought there were other means that could have been utilized, you could have had the guy sitting down, hands cuffed behind his back. If he tries to get up, push him back down.”

Ryan hopes that some good will come out of this tragic incident, starting with Police departments reviewing and revamping their use of force and code of conduct policies.

“The day is long gone where excessive use of force is accepted; long gone,” he contends.

Lloyd Police Chief James Janso said Chauvin was guilty of the murder of George Floyd.

“I don’t believe any police officer thought what he did was right,” Janso said. “I don’t know what the procedures or protocols are out there, but that’s definitely not what we do in the Town of Lloyd or in New York State. He justly got what he deserved as far a guilty verdicts on all three.”

Janso said, “if you watch the video, there was no rationale for having somebody handcuffed on the ground like that for 9 minutes and 28 seconds. I don’t understand what his thought process would be and the prosecution did a great case by telling the jurors that this is not about law enforcement, this is about Derek Chauvin and this is what he did, not the Minnesota Police. He acted in this manner and caused the death of George Floyd.”

Janso said this case was discussed during their police reform meetings. He said his department never uses choke-holds but decided to write it into their use of force policy. In addition, an officer in his department now has the duty to intervene to stop another officer who may be exerting excessive force otherwise they can be charged.

When Janso saw the infamous tape last May, “I just shook my head in disbelief. There are millions and millions of contacts between law enforcement and citizens throughout the United States and this one particular incident was horrific and it changed the course of law enforcement. Most officers, and I can speak for myself due to 31 years, were appalled by it. You try to put yourself in that position of why would he be doing it, what would I be doing and I couldn’t answer why he did that. We knew it was bad and it wouldn’t be good for the country and it wasn’t.”

Janso said officers are rightfully held to a higher standard of conduct, “and mistakes are made but not this gravely.”