Off-duty cops quit security for Lynx game after players wear Black Lives Matter shirts
Source: Washington Post
By Des Bieler July 12 at 1:20 AM
Four off-duty police officers who were providing security at a Minnesota Lynx {WNBA} home game Saturday walked off the job following pregame comments by some players and team members warming up in shirts with messages supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. The president of the Minneapolis Police Federation offered praise for the officers’ decision to quit and suggested that their colleagues may all choose to do the same.
Before a game against the Dallas Wings, Lynx players wore shirts with the phrase, “Change Starts With Us -- Justice and Accountability,” on the front. The backs of the shirts bore the names of two men killed by police officers in incidents in Minnesota and Louisiana last week, the logo for the Dallas Police Department and the words, “Black Lives Matter.”
Lt. Bob Kroll, the Minneapolis police union’s president, said Monday (via the Minneapolis Star Tribune), “If [the players] are going to keep their stance, all officers may refuse to work there.” He noted that the four officers removed themselves from a list of candidates to provide security at Lynx games and added, “Others said they heard about it and they were not going to work Lynx games.”
“I commend them for it,” Kroll said of the officers who walked off the job. When asked about a report indicating twice as many off-duty cops had quit, the union chief said, “They only have four officers working the event because the Lynx have such a pathetic draw.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/off-duty-cops-quit-security-for-lynx-game-after-players-wear-black-lives-matter-shirts/2016/07/11/42c71145-37cb-4422-aecc-2527df5a75c4_story.html
Blue Minnesota!
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TipTok
(2,474 posts)Night Watchman
(743 posts)
riversedge
(79,636 posts)
gopiscrap
(24,551 posts)I see a lot of racism in cops
geardaddy
(25,392 posts)cstanleytech
(28,252 posts)shoddy security because of it.
vi5
(13,305 posts)And like all of us if they aren't willing or able to do the job they are being paid to do then they should quit.
Being they were off duty moonlighting as security, there is no reason they can't walk off any more than any temp employee can change their minds about working at any temporary venue.
razorman
(1,644 posts)But, apparently, this was an off-duty detail, which is voluntary. So, I guess they have a right to refuse to be there, as long as they do not expect to be paid for the time later.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)That said, one might expect that the Security Company that hired them may face some repercussions from whoever contracted them to provide the service and possibly those officers who chose to leave may not have work again with that said Security Company. It is job abandonment in my view.
razorman
(1,644 posts)vi5
(13,305 posts)I was including this job as part of their profession.
geardaddy
(25,392 posts)They are allowed to walk off. That's their choice. They're off duty. On the other hand, Kroll is a prick, and I thought officers were supposed to be non-political.
Night Watchman
(743 posts)I wasn't told that that only applies to people they agree with!
geardaddy
(25,392 posts)
TacoD
(581 posts)razorman
(1,644 posts)Supreme Court Justice.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)razorman
(1,644 posts)I have a couple of conservative acquaintances who tell me that they have a great deal of respect for Bernie Sanders, even though they disagree with him on everything. They say that at least he sincerely believes in what he says and is unafraid to say it. Rare in a politician these days.
Moostache
(11,011 posts)The police do not get to dictate to the public that they MUST be deferred to in any and all cases. The right to protest is part of freedom of speech, which in turn is enshrined in the Bill of Rights as an extension of the Constitution.
Don't like what you do? Fine, quit.
Don't like what people say? Tough shit, make a counter argument or shut up....but your offense at not being approached on bended knee is YOUR problem officers, NOT everyone else's problem.
It is a massive character flaw to demand respect without regard to whether it is earned or merely desired.
Iggo
(49,682 posts)cstanleytech
(28,252 posts)walked off as for the rest of your post regarding the Constitution it is a moot point, well written of course and I agree with you but unless they were assigned there as on duty officers its still a moot point.
Besides if the officers stayed and done the job they were hired to do it could have led to some shoddy work so its a good thing they quit IMO.
Iggo
(49,682 posts)They'd rather walk off the job than admit that black lives matter.
most cops are pigs
HuskyOffset
(925 posts)...when reading this bit of the story:
Kroll said of the officers who walked off the job. When asked about a report indicating twice as many off-duty cops had quit, the union chief said, “They only have four officers working the event because the Lynx have such a pathetic draw.”
heard that in Trump's voice? "They have such a pathetic draw."
Anyone? Or am I the only one?
ProfessorGAC
(75,898 posts)That snarky comment about how many people come to the game was low rent.
geardaddy
(25,392 posts)Yes, that was Trumpesque.
cstanleytech
(28,252 posts)Trump says some of the things he says and for the same reason which is they want to distract people and throw them off the scent which is why I ignored it.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)start showing some integrity and courage and begin to 'out' the racists and other criminals in blue, then they'll have my respect. I laugh in derision at this stupidity shown by these so-called cops.
gopiscrap
(24,551 posts)I don't think they should be cops, they can't be non racist when doing their jobs
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)Then quit.
If you encounter this on the street, what will they do. Turn and leave?
I feel 67 and 68 getting ready to rock again.
Insensitivity being the main reason.
Aristus
(71,736 posts)with the trigger finger...
christx30
(6,241 posts)
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)They probably should be replaced in the police department, they're not dependable.
anigbrowl
(13,889 posts)Taxpayers shouldn't be picking up the tab for security at sporting events and these officers were making some extra cash (though I don't think they should be allowed to wear police uniforms when working for someone else). I have a low opinion of these cops but what they do with their own free time is their own decision. They can sit at home binge-watching Archie Bunker reruns for all I care as long as they conduct themselves correctly while on the job. You can't legislate morality or attitudes.
TryLogic
(2,275 posts)2naSalit
(100,258 posts)fbc
(1,668 posts)christx30
(6,241 posts)The PD will stand behind the 4 officers that walked out. Will probably advise the WNBA to hire private security for their events.
cstanleytech
(28,252 posts)and if the police department fired them for this the police department could be then be sued by the officers for being unjustly fired.
hack89
(39,181 posts)moonlighting as private security is a person thing - has nothing to due with the police department.
geardaddy
(25,392 posts)anigbrowl
(13,889 posts)Belongs to a motorcycle club with a bunch of white supremacist members, but says the media characterize them unfairly. Boo fucking hoo.
http://www.startribune.com/controversy-follows-minneapolis-police-union-chief/361517061/
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)stand up to them. . .similar to a schoolyard bully. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. . .
Skittles
(169,787 posts)NOTHING gets solved with this kind of juvenile behavior