Dear Mayor Frey, Chief Arradondo, and City Attorney Rowader:

On July 8, the Racial Justice Network released a press statement in response to the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) killing of Leneal Frazier, an innocent Black man, on July 6 during a high-speed police pursuit in North Minneapolis. In our press statement, we called for the immediate firing of Brian Cummings for his dangerous, reckless behavior. We have yet to receive a response; and this letter is a follow up to our demand.

Frazier was a beloved father and the uncle of Darnella Frazier, the teen who courageously filmed the murder of George Floyd at the hands of MPD. The trauma and pain that Darnella and her family have been forced to experience is unimaginable. The officers’ history of alleged misconduct prior to these deadly encounters are very similar. Both Derek Chauvin and Brian Cummings had multiple complaints in which they were never held accountable for their misconduct. The enabling behavior by top city leadership empowers officers like Cummings to pursue an alleged carjacking suspect with the same cowboy attitude that we saw during the killing of Winston Smith by the North Star Task Force, or the killing of Jamar Clark or the killing of Terrance Franklin. The consistent outcome was no discipline in each of these cases. It is a troubling pattern of forgiveness toward officer misconduct that sends the message that reckless and dangerous behaviour will not lead to any real consequences. It also sends the message that Black lives do not matter within the city of Minneapolis.

In what industry or career field can an employee be granted so many second chances when they have shown such a clear pattern of incompetency to conduct their job at an acceptable level? Petty crimes, petty violations and infractions, and non-violent offenses often land the ordinary citizen in jail, but Brian Cummings can assault a mentally ill and accumulate 11 complaints and three lawsuits while continuing to collect paychecks. We demand simple accountability for police misconduct; consequences that serve to deter abhorrent behavior so families like the Fraziers can heal instead of reel from another death at the hands of Minneapolis Police. Would any other Minneapolis citizen working any other job be granted this much leniency for misconduct that resulted in such a severe outcome? No.

In 2019, MPD revised its pursuit policy to state that police may no longer initiate a pursuit or must terminate a pursuit in progress if it “poses an unreasonable risk to the officers, the public or passengers of the vehicle being pursued who may be unwilling participants.” Clearly this chase posed an unreasonable risk to the public since a Black man’s life was stolen in the process. Despite suspected carjacking pursuits being specifically risky, Officer Cummings engaged in a known dangerous pursuit against department policy.

Minneapolis became the epicenter for police reform after the murder of George Floyd, yet we have not seen any substantive change in the Minneapolis Police Department in the past 14 1/2 months. You have the power to change this pattern and you can start by firing Brian Cummings. Mayor Frey, Chief Arradondo, City Attorney Rowader, honor your commitment to justice, accountability and reform by firing Brian Cummings immediately for his reckless and dangerous behavior that resulted in the killing of Leneal Frazier.

Sincerely,

The Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the Racial Justice Network