Mohamed Noor was on the force because he was a Somali Muslim, not because he was a capable police officer. Minneapolis officials had to have him, and so they invested a great deal in him and fast-tracked him onto the force — not because they thought he was going to be a great cop, but because he was a symbol of “diversity.” The article below is a whitewash but does admit that the training Noor received emphasizes command and control tactics (great for a Muslim) and doesn’t train officers adequately on de-escalation and common sense methods.
Unanswered questions:
— What happened during the missing two minutes where Noor radioed in that he was responding to the 911 call about a reported rape and the next call, “shots fired”?
— Were the complaints against Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor from women? Did they had to do with excessive force?
— Is it common for a rookie cop in Minneapolis to have three complaints lodged against him in the first two years of duty?
— Why was his body cam off?
— He is going through a divorce, with no mention in the local news as to the ex-wife or circumstances. Did he beat her?
“Fast-track training put officer Mohamed Noor on Minneapolis police force,” by Jennifer Bjorhus, Star Tribune, July 22, 2017 (thanks to Scott):
Minneapolis made a significant financial investment in Mohamed Noor.
The officer who fatally shot Justine Damond graduated in 2015 from the city’s accelerated police cadet program. The seven-month training is a quicker, nontraditional route to policing aimed at helping those who already have a college degree enter law enforcement.
The Minneapolis program covers tuition at Hennepin Technical College and pays trainees a $20-an-hour salary with benefits while they work to get licensed. After that their salary bumps up….
Former police chief Janeé Harteau, who resigned late Friday, stood by Noor’s training last week.
“We have a very robust training and hiring process,” Harteau told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. “This officer completed that training very well, just like every officer. He was very suited to be on the street.”
Not everyone is sold on the fast-track training. In Minnesota, the more traditional route to a job as a peace officer includes a two- or four-year degree in criminal justice or a related field. The state is unique in its educational requirement for officers, although Wisconsin has a similar requirement.
James Densley, who teaches criminal justice at Metropolitan State University, said he thinks too many cadet programs are “all tactics and no strategy,” overemphasizing assessing threats and conducting tactical protocols.
“The cadet program is rigorous, no doubt, but it is also an immersive paramilitary experience, taught by practitioner faculty without advanced degrees, and I suspect it leaves students with a limited view of the profession,” Densley said.
Critics of police training across the United States have called it long on command and control and short on instructing common sense approaches to slowing down confrontations and defusing hostile situations….
Nate Gove, head of the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST Board), which controls police training and sets learning objectives for the schools, said the nontraditional routes are no less rigorous in Minnesota than the traditional ones. The learning objectives are the same, he said, and include teaching and modeling de-escalation techniques.
“They still have to meet the learning objectives before they get signed off to take the exam,” Gove said. “There’s not some difference in that.”…
When asked on Thursday whether Noor did well in his field training, Harteau said, “He absolutely did.”
“We have a very robust field training officer program which, I’ve been told by the training officers, he did well,” Harteau said. “There was no indication there would be any issues.”
