PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In an unusual move, the national and local police union applauded the guilty verdict against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, saying "the system worked."
Legal and law enforcement experts have said some of the surprising testimony came from fellow police officers, condemning Chauvin's actions.
The national Fraternal Order of Police released a statement saying the "justice system worked as it should," and local FOP Lodge No. 5 President John McNesby called the verdict "fair and just."
By and large, police commanders agree: No officer is ever trained to put their knee on the back of someone’s neck.
Retired Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Joe Sullivan said watching fellow officers testify against Derek Chauvin was "unique."
"They came into court and made no bones about it. His application of force was not within policy, and was not within the standard that is expected in the profession," he said. "And it certainly wasn’t lawful."
Sullivan says, though it may not be monumental, that testimony signifies a change within law enforcement.
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"I think their testimony was very powerful in the way that it impacted the jury to see their insistence that this was just not acceptable behavior. This is what we already knew."
Sullivan says law enforcement reform across the country has made some progress. Philadelphia police-involved shootings are down over the past few years from nearly 60 to about 12 last year. However, Sullivan believes there’s more to do, including more training — and deepening ties with the community.
He says also, setting national standards of training will move reform forward.
"You just have too many police departments, and you have so many police officers — and half the departments are 10 or less officers — that it really becomes almost impossible to maintain standards of training and discipline," he said.
"I still think we need to reduce the number of police departments and, at some point, we need some federal standards as well so there is some uniformity in the profession."
In a statement released by the Philadelphia Police Department on Tuesday, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said, "After [George Floyd's] death, the PPD, in conjunction with the mayor’s office, worked on a set of reforms to improve police responses when using force and to improve trust within our community. Among those changes were immediately reporting any use of force over police radio, the banning of certain holds — particularly those that restrict or compromise an arrestee’s breathing, and the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement program."