‘Deep systemic racism’: will Minneapolis’s police department ever change?

The department has seen decades of reform efforts, but activists say racism and violence are too ingrained to eliminate

As Derek Chauvin crushed George Floyd's neck under his knee, slowly killing him, a police officer who had just joined the force repeatedly asked Chauvin if they should adjust Floyd's position. Chauvin, a 19-year-veteran of the department, refused.

That precise interaction - an experienced officer training younger officers to act violently - was not a one-time failure, but a systemic" problem within the Minneapolis police department, according to RT Rybak, who served as Minneapolis mayor for 12 years.