Minneapolis
Police Chief Janeé Harteau has fired two white police officers who scuffled
with a group of black men, then used racial slurs while berating local police
investigating last summer’s incident in Green Bay, Wis., according to sources
close to the Police Department.
The
firings of officers Brian Thole and Shawn Powell, both military veterans who
were on the department’s SWAT team, will kick off an automatic appeals process
that could last a year, according to a lawyer familiar with such cases. The
officers have been on paid administrative leave since July.
At
least one of the officers also disparaged Harteau as a lesbian in the June 29
incident, which was partly recorded on video and described in a 40-page Green
Bay Police Department report. The officers, who were off-duty, were not charged
with any crime in Green Bay, but the department there reported the incident to
the Minneapolis department, prompting the internal affairs process that led to
Tuesday’s firing.
Ron
Edwards, a longtime Minneapolis civil rights activist, applauded Harteau’s
decision. “She is sending a message that disrespect under her leadership will
not be tolerated and I commend her for her courage,” he said.
When
it first came to light, the incident brought immediate condemnation from city,
police and union leaders. The Star Tribune learned days later that at least
three more Minneapolis officers had been cited for assault months before for a
similar incident in Apple Valley.
The
two cases ignited a round of public recriminations of the department and
reawakened simmering complaints of racial intolerance by police officers.
Prominent community activists held a news conference on the front steps of City
Hall to call for a U.S. Justice Department audit of the department.
Harteau
said at the time that she would review the department’s training and hiring
practices. She also pledged to expand a citizens advisory council to rebuild
trust with the community, inviting cultural and faith leaders to meet with the
group that she had created soon after becoming chief one year ago.
The
meetings, which Harteau said would ultimately produce a plan to improve
community relations, have been held in private.
Harteau
was not immediately available Tuesday to talk about her community plan.
Lengthy
appeals process
In
a news release, Harteau said she informed the officers of her decision Tuesday
but could not release it publicly because of privacy laws. Two sources who
spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed to the Star Tribune that the two
men were fired.
Because
the two officers are both veterans and union members, they have two appeals
options.
They
can challenge their dismissal through the traditional union procedures,
provided under the union contract with the Minneapolis Police Federation. Union
leaders Tuesday declined to discuss the reported firings.
Or,
they can appeal under procedures created under the state’s Veterans Preference
Act.
They
can use only one of the two procedures. They have three weeks to decide whether
to file a grievance under the union contract, or 60 days to decide whether they
wish to file under the Veterans Preference Act. Sources indicated Tuesday that
the officers had not decided which route to take.
If
they appeal under the union contract, an arbitrator will decide whether to
uphold their termination or put them back to work.
If
they use the Veterans Act, either a civil service panel or a panel of three
people, one member selected by the veteran, one selected by the Police
Department, who together pick a third person, will conduct a hearing and reach
a decision by majority vote. There is a period of discovery before the hearing
to conduct witness interviews and gather evidence. If a veteran disagrees with
the panel’s decision, he can appeal to state district court.
The
process could take a year and the appealing officer would be paid until a
decision is reached under the Veterans Act. In a union procedure, officers
could be awarded back pay if the firing is overturned.
Just
weeks before the Green Bay case, three off-duty Minneapolis police officers —
William C. Woodis, Christopher J. Bennett and Andrew R. Allen — were wrapping
up court proceedings related to an alleged assault during a fight on Nov. 19,
2012, outside an Apple Valley bar. The white officers were among a group of
white men who followed a group of black men into the parking lot of Bogart’s
Place, knocking one of them down and beating him, according to the Apple Valley
police report. The black men said the Minneapolis officers used racial slurs.
Woods
and Bennett plead guilty to disorderly conduct; charges against Allen were
dismissed. The three officers are still the subjects of an Internal Affairs
investigation.
The
question of how Minneapolis disciplines police officers has been under renewed
scrutiny after the Apple Valley and Green Bay incidents. According to a Star
Tribune analysis, the city of Minneapolis made $14 million in payouts for
alleged police misconduct between 2006 and 2012, but the Police Department
rarely concluded that the officers involved did anything wrong.
Citing
that record, community activist Mel Reeves said he considered Tuesday’s
decision a first step.
“It’s
a step in the right direction, but we will know they are really serious when
they start punishing cops who are guilty of brutalizing people,” he said.