Manitowoc Police Chief Nick Reimer recently spoke with SeehaferNews.com about the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis recently.
He said “When I first saw the video, I was actually shocked and appalled. Obviously it was something where you get confused as to why that tactic was being used.”
The 46-year-old Minneapolis man died on Memorial Day when Police Officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on the neck of Floyd while he was detained in handcuffs on a sidewalk for nearly nine minutes.
Reimer called it a “Very unfortunate incident and a tragedy for sure. Our thoughts and hearts go out to the family and friends. It’s something we don’t want to see anywhere but especially understand that we don’t want to see it around here, and it would never happen around here.” Reimer admits that some incidents his officers Respond to can become a bit heated and confrontational but that’s when training takes over and when the suspect(s) are subdued “it’s over and you take the suspect(s) to jail.” The MPD Chief said that the Command Staff looked at the video and talked about it but that “the tape speaks for itself in just not how to react.”
Reimer also spoke about the peaceful protest held last Saturday in Manitowoc saying, “We appreciate peaceful demonstrations and that’s exactly what we’ve seen. We want to protect people’s rights to do that. It hasn’t gotten violent, and there’s no reason for it to. It doesn’t accomplish what they are setting out to do. We encourage people to continue to be peaceful.”
That’s not been the case in Green Bay, Madison, and Milwaukee where protests have become violent and curfews enacted. “I’m not just here to protect the citizens of Manitowoc,” Reimer explained. “I took an oath to protect people, so if another area is in need of more policing, we want to supply them with those police officers to help keep that community safe and of course bring our people back. We would hope that should we have those same needs that they would come here and help us.”
There may actually be a silver lining in all this. “We do many things in the community,” Reimer stated. “Whether it be Shop with a Cop…Stuff the Squad…and DARE. We are always trying to be proactive. This definitely presents more opportunities to get together and communicate with all the individuals out there that have concerns, or maybe that want to talk about different things and get to know you.”
The MPD Chief adds “We are an extension of our community and need to work together. We want to take the opportunities to listen to concerns and become a part of the solution and not part of the problem.”
