| Shortly before former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison on Friday for the murder of George Floyd, relatives of Floyd's told the court that their family had received a life sentence – of their loved one's absence. What if the officers around Chauvin had acted differently last May – and intervened during the several minutes his knee ground into Floyd's neck? Contrast their actions with those of Cariol Horne, who in 2006 responded to a call to assist a fellow Buffalo police officer in making an arrest. At the scene, Horne saw the arresting officer engaging in what she perceived to be a chokehold – and intervened to protect the arrestee from harm. For this, writes former Obama White House counsel W. Neil Eggleston, Horne "was fired from the Buffalo Police Department after 19 years of service — one year before her full pension would have vested." The New York Supreme Court vindicated Horne this spring, awarding her a full pension and back pay. The incident points up a larger issue of officers' duty to intervene. "Arrests can be dangerous for officers," Eggleston notes. "Officers must act together to bring the situation under control without danger to themselves or others, including the arrestee." Yet as police departments teach de-escalation techniques, they also must make clear in training that an arresting officer is much better served by colleagues acting as Horne did rather than those who assume that officers must always stick together, whatever their behavior. "Horne had her colleague's back when she intervened," Eggleston writes — "more so, in fact, than the Minneapolis officers had Chauvin's back when they failed to keep him from killing Floyd."  (Pool/Via Reuters) Intervention would have meant no trial and conviction for Chauvin. And most important, George Floyd would still be alive. By W. Neil Eggleston ● Read more » | | | | Biden has been given his first real chance to show that, as he likes to put it, "I'm not bad at this." By Karen Tumulty ● Read more » | | | | Step 1: Stop worrying about Republican faux-outrage. By Paul Waldman ● Read more » | | | Washington, D.C.'s children should learn about Black history in the District. By Colbert King ● Read more » | | | | A Republican state senator risks his standing with the Trump base and stands by the truth. By David Von Drehle ● Read more » | | | | It is so important to have freedom on campuses, so we can fill out our viewpoint survey in a satisfactory way! By Alexandra Petri ● Read more » | | | We have too many wild horses. But this is no way to thin the herd By Kathleen Parker ● Read more » | | | | Lawyers don't sacrifice their constitutional rights completely when they join the bar. By Bruce A. Green and Rebecca Roiphe ● Read more » | | | | Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel illustrates a momentous development: progressivism's abandonment of the aspiration that defines the American project – equality of opportunity. By George F. Will ● Read more » | | | |
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