Protests Turn Spotlight on Powerful Police Unions Blocking Reform
- Contracts seen hindering efforts to hold police accountable
- Police fired for excessive force returned to the job
Demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd in Washington, D.C. on June 1.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Less than six months before the video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd set off a nationwide furor, another city officer fired for the use of excessive force returned to the job.
Peter Brazeau was terminated in 2019 for beating a handcuffed, drunken man, leaving him in a pool of blood. But under the police union contract and Minnesota state law, Brazeau was allowed to appeal the decision in binding arbitration. The arbitrator overruled the department, deciding a two-week suspension was enough.