Law-enforcement leaders discuss protest in Modesto over George Floyd’s death
Two top-ranking cops and a pastor took to Facebook Live to discuss Sunday’s sometimes volatile protest in Modesto in support of the Black Lives Matter cause.
Police Chief Galen Carroll and Sheriff Jeff Dirkse defended their officers’ actions during the hourlong forum Wednesday evening. Both said the vast majority of 1,000-plus people were peaceful as they protested the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Pastor Darius Crosby talked of rising above the anger that his fellow black Americans might have because of past dealings with police. He is part of the Modesto Police Clergy Council, which aims to defuse tensions in the city.
The forum was conducted on the Facebook page of the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services. It took the place of the weekly discussions held since March on the local response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Larger than expected
Carroll said he was surprised at the large size of the protest, which went north for more than three miles on McHenry Avenue from downtown and then back to the city core. He said officers used crowd-control measures, including batons and flash-bang grenades, only after a small group surrounded a patrol car and others threw objects at them.
“I am happy the way that Modesto voices its anger,” Carroll said. “We don’t have a burned-out downtown.”
The chief added that almost all of the 16 people arrested were from Modesto. Most were charged with failing to disperse or for interfering with police.
The most serious charge was for a man accused of using a child as a shield against police. “And he will get follow-up as far as his parenting skills ...,” Carroll said.
The protest was one of many across the nation in the wake of Floyd’s death. There was one in Oakdale on Wednesday that was mostly calm but did bring three arrests.
Emergency declaration
Dirkse discussed the state of emergency that the county declared Wednesday to help with the protests. He said it would allow the county to share resources with other agencies and to have jail deputies handle some duties on the streets.
Dirkse said the county has the options of declaring a curfew and calling in the National Guard, but he does not expect either to be needed.
He and Carroll both mentioned the training that officers receive in how to defuse a tense situation, whether it involves a single person or a large crowd. The chief also noted that his department is trained to watch for “implicit bias” against minorities.
Meeting officers
Crosby said the Modesto Police Clergy Council’s work includes a youth summit where attendees can interact with officers in positive ways. He told of his own troubles as a youth, including two cases of police brutality against him.
“I don’t want kids growing up the way I spent the latter part of my teenage years – in hatred because of what happened to me and what I was experiencing on the streets,” Crosby said.
The forum happened on the same day that charges against fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin were upgraded to second-degree murder. He is accused of causing Floyd’s death by kneeling on his neck for about nine minutes Three other officers who were at the scene were charged Wednesday with aiding and abetting Chauvin.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 11:08 AM.
