It is difficult to hold officers accountable, in part because of the political clout of police unions

See Thousands of Complaints Do Little to Change Police Ways: Efforts to hold problem officers accountable face resistance from unions, and juries are reluctant to second-guess by Shaila Dewan and Serge F. Kovaleski of The NY Times. Excerpts:

"Even as outrage has mounted over deaths at the hands of the police, it remains notoriously difficult in the United States to hold officers accountable, in part because of the political clout of police unions, the reluctance of investigators, prosecutors and juries to second-guess an officer’s split-second decision and the wide latitude the law gives police officers to use force."

"Public employees can appeal their dismissals — and in scores of cases across the country, the officers often win.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press analyzed five years’ worth of such appeals and found that between 2014 and 2019, Minnesota arbitrators — a group that hears a range of public service complaints — ruled in favor of terminated law enforcement and correction officers 46 percent of the time, reinstating them."

"Dave Bicking, a board member of Communities United Against Police Brutality, a Twin Cities advocacy group, said many disciplinary actions are overturned because they are compared to previous cases, making it hard for departments to reverse a history of leniency or respond to changing community expectations.

“Because the department has never disciplined anybody, for anything, when they try to do it now, it’s considered arbitrary and capricious,” he said."

"The head of the police union, Lt. Bob Kroll, is himself the subject of at least 29 complaints. Three resulted in discipline, The Star Tribune reported in 2015. Mr. Kroll was accused of using excessive force and racial slurs, in a case that was dismissed, and was named in a racial discrimination lawsuit brought in 2007 by several officers, including the man who is now the police chief.

Teresa Nelson, legal director for the A.C.L.U. of Minnesota, said attempts by the city’s police leaders to reform the department’s culture have been undermined by Mr. Kroll, who she said downplays complaints and works to reinstate officers who are fired, no matter the reason.

She said that in a 2015 meeting after a fatal police shooting, Mr. Kroll told her that he views community complaints like fouls in basketball. “He told me, ‘If you’re not getting any fouls, you’re not working hard enough,’” she said."

"In 2013, the police chief at the time, Janeé Harteau, asked the Department of Justice to review the department’s warning system. A federal report found that it had “systemic challenges” and questioned its ability to “create sustainable behavior change.”"

"Ms. Harteau, who left the top post in the wake of a 2017 fatal police shooting, said she took many steps to reform the department, including training officers on implicit bias and mandating the use of body cameras. But the police union, she said, fought her at every turn."