Former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police officer Kim Potter has been charged with second-degree murder following the death of Daunte Wright. Potter is a 26-year veteran who shot and killed 20-year old Wright after pulling a gun instead of her taser during a traffic stop altercation. Both Potter and the Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon resigned yesterday, Tuesday. Today, Kim Potter was arrested by agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Reports say she was booked into the Hennepin County Jail.
If Potter is convicted of second-degree murder, she could face up to 10 years in prison and/or upwards as much as a $20,000 fine.
Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has been very outspoken on Twitter about her distaste for not only the incident but police as whole. Tlaib came out and said bluntly that it's time we have no more police, period.
Tlaib went on to post a full thread of tweets addressing public safety and the continued problems she sees with policing...
Is Tlaib right, do we have "over-policing"? I don't think so. This incident was a tragic, terrible thing that should never have occurred where a 26-year veteran mistook her gun for a taser. I do not know how that happens. I really don't. I certainly would not want to be her defense attorney after she has just been charged with second-degree murder. While the public is crying out for change, I do not think that change should be to abolish the police. That's ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous. Do we need reform? Yes, in some aspects we do. Do I have all the answers, no I don't but clearly something needs to change. Should the social workers go in? How would that have helped Daunte Wright still be alive today? It wouldn't. This was a routine car stop, not a drug infused or mental health call. In my opinion the officer is 100% in the wrong here and I think that's pretty obvious. This is a tragedy and that man should still be alive. Wright did nothing that would have rightfully prompted that officer to act in the manner resulting in his death. I'm not a lawyer or a law expert but that's pretty clear cut to me. Maybe part of the solution should be more frequent mental health checks for officers. Could that go by the way-side? Yes it could. Clearly officer Potter seemed to have panicked and found herself frazzled which who knows if in general she could have been under severe stress and was lacking in the mental health department where this could have been avoided had a more clear-headed officer handled the call. I don't know, but I don't think mental health screenings or check ins would be a terrible idea. If on a given week an officer is dealing with severe stress or found themselves dealing with some mental health issues they need to address, it's time for a time out at no cost to the officer. You should be put out of commission until you're back to feeling normal. Secondly, officers should not be overworked or put under impossible demands from their superiors meaning no quotes for car stops, no unnecessary BS that gets police put under more pressure than they need to be in their everyday job. I know second hand that departments put pressure on officers to get a certain amount of car stops in and if they don't they will be basically read the riot act so lets stop that BS too that can add to unnecessary stress and frazzled nerves on our patrolmen and women. This could have been the result of officer Potter needing to get just one more car stop in to please her superiors and look what happened. I know police fish for reasons to pull people over just to possibly find out more and reel in those numbers to honestly appease the brass and ease the pressure they are getting from the brass so I think it's time to lay off. Our patrolmen and women are the ones out there getting their hands dirty and while we will most likely never really know the culprit behind why Potter was so frazzled and pulled her gun, I think it couldn't hurt if the brass layoff for the sake of their officers. I don't care if that's an unpopular opinion, that's my opinion. At the end of the day our patrolmen and women do not need extra unnecessary stress or pressure in what is already a stressful job.
-Producer Lightning