Statement from Sheriff High - The Death of George Floyd #PGSO

Upper Marlboro, MD… Recently, I’ve received several emails and calls from citizens asking me to address the horrific killing of Mr. George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, MN. They are outraged by the senseless death and concerned about their safety and the safety of their own family members. In their messages to me, they have expressed the pain of having to recall far too many other names of young African American men and women lost to their families and communities.

The death of Mr. Floyd and so many others destroys the trust between communities and law enforcement. These deaths demand accountability in police leadership, a definitive conversation about use-of-force policies, and effective early warning systems that help identify officers who need effective training and better field supervision, or who should simply not be in law enforcement. An effective Early Warning System should have identified Officer Chauvin as a person in need of effective corrective action or if found to be incorrigible through that process dismissed from the agency. An effective system might have detected a person who could kneel on Mr. Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, and ignore his pleas of distress while he (the officer) looked calmly into the camera with his hand in his pocket.

As a law enforcement executive, I believe that leadership must be more than talk. Leaders cannot say they have an Early Warning System in place, if that system does not do what it is designed to do. Best practices policing is written into department General Orders and Standard Operating Procedures. They tell our members how we expect them to do their work safely and according to community standards (the law) we agreed to uphold. Our accreditation from the Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) verifies that we do what we say we do, through regular external review and by its requirement that we maintain proofs demonstrating that we do what we say we do - accountability always at work.

I believe the citizens of Prince George’s County know me and what I stand for and that is policing that is professional, accountable, fair, respectful, and most importantly humane. Anything less is unacceptable. I know that this agency feels, at a visceral level, that the officer who killed Mr. Floyd and those with him who did not intervene, do not represent them or their colleagues. For them, I say to our community - we are not those officers and that is not how we do our work.

I support the Constitutional right of citizens to peacefully assemble to have their concerns addressed. Within our jurisdiction, as citizens do so peacefully to express their anger and demand change, I stand with them. As the Floyd family prepares to memorialize Mr. Floyd, I pray for his family, for our country, and for other families who’s loved ones were so senselessly lost.

As the Maryland General Assembly policing workgroup convenes, I commit to providing them any information or assistance my experience as a law enforcement executive may afford them.

I pray for your safety and urge you caution and vigilance in these challenging times.

For more information contact the Communications and Public Affairs Division at 301-780-7354.