Some have called for ‘defunding the police.’
Frederick, Md (KM) Calls for “defunding the police” are being made by some Americans following the death of George Floyd last month in Minneapolis at the hands of a police officers, and the protests which followed.
Many people, including those in the law enforcement community, have express disgust with the officer who held his knee to Floyd’s neck, making it difficult for him to breathe. The officer only released it after an ambulance arrived. Charlie Snyder, the President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 91 which represents Frederick Police officers, says . “chokeholds in the Frederick City Police Department are not allowed unless you’re in a life or death situation. Everything with the George Floyd situation totally inexcusable by that police officer in Minneapolis.”
Law enforcement personnel say “bad cops” can reflect poorly on any department trying to build and keep trust with their communities. Snyder, who was guest recently on WFMD’s “Morning New Express,” says the FOP and the Department do a good job weeding out the “bad cops.” “I will tell you as President of the FOP Lodge, the last thing I want to deal with is somebody who doesn’t know how to do the job properly. Then they become a detriment l to those of us out there doing the job properly,”: says Snyder.
With police agencies, it’s important that they have the trust of the public they serve. Snyder says Frederick Police officers have a good relationship with their community. “We at Frederick Police Department with the NAC’s, we are out there. The supervisors are out there. All levels of the Frederick Police Department are out there speaking with the community,” he says.
During the protests following Floyd’s death, some communities have discussed reorganizing their police departments from top to bottom, or cutting funding.
Snyder says there’s always room for improvement. But for that to happen, he says there needs to be some conversations on the present and future role of the Frederick Police Department, and what the community should expects from the officers. “All of our policies and procedures and how we do things are out there. They’re on our city’s website. You can pull them up. But we also have to listen to the community. We have to work with them. They have to understand why we do what we do. There’s a lot of tough questions that got to be asked,” he says.
For citizens who want to know more about their police department, Snyder encourages them to enroll in the Frederick Citizens Police Academy.
By Kevin McManus