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Sunday, May 25 marks five years since Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on the neck of George Floyd for 9 1/2 minutes, 

. The incident sparked outrage not only across the state of Minnesota, but worldwide.

One of the key figures taking heat as the public called for better policing and public accountability was Minnesota’s Public Safety Commissioner at the time, John Harrington. 

Harrington rose to prominence as St. Paul's police chief

, then as the head of the Metro Transit police force. He also served a short stint as a member of the Minnesota State Senate for the 2011-2012 legislative session. 

Days after Floyd’s death, Harrington was one of the first public officials to call Chauvin’s act murder.

“Never … in any of (my) training, had I ever seen anyone kneel on someone’s neck,” Harrington told MPR News host Cathy Wurzer on Monday’s Morning Edition.

These days, Harington works in the private sector as the CEO of MicroGrants and 

, which aims to take the “potential confrontation” of a traffic stop and turn it into a positive interaction. 

Harrington joined Wurzer to reflect on Floyd’s murder, five years ago. 

The interview below had been lightly edited for clarity.

Take us back to 2020. Where were you when you learned of George Floyd’s death?

I was actually in the office, and I remember getting the call from Rondo— Medaria Arradondo— Chief of Police from Minneapolis, who called me and said that there was a video that I might want to take a look at.

 And that was the first indication of what was going to be probably one of the most significant events in in Minnesota's policing history. And it continued the work that actually the Attorney General and I had started a year before that with the 

You were one of the first public officials to call this a murder, days after Darnella Frazier’s video went viral. What stood out to you that made you say that?

I'd been a police officer for — by that point — almost 40 years. I had taught defensive tactics, and never in my career, never in any of the training, had I ever seen anyone kneel on someone's neck.

When somebody is in custody, they are under your care, and it is your responsibility as a peace officer to take care of them. And what I saw there didn't meet any of those criteria. And it clearly seemed to me to be not accidental. It seemed very clearly to be intentional. 

And in my mind, the taking of a life intentionally equated to murder.

How are you feeling about reform moving forward?

I'm feeling guardedly optimistic, although, in today's climate, it is optimism is sometimes hard to come by.

In the aftermath, Minnesota was able to push through legislation that Attorney General Ellison and I had proposed as part of the 

working group on reducing deadly force encounters

. And I felt really good at that time that we were moving in the right direction, but I haven't seen that momentum or that initiative continue forward.

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I would have expected by now to see even greater work in that area, and so I think that is where my optimism may be a little blunted at this point.

You now work in the private sector, but you're still focused on public safety. When you made the career transition, what were you thinking about?

That I was getting close to 70 years old and it was probably time for for younger voices to be heard. And I, perhaps, am now at my senior status, where I do get calls occasionally when folks have questions about how to make things happen, and, ‘How would you do things?’

And a lot of what we're still seeing from the new young chiefs like Booker Hodges down in Bloomington, Joe Dotseth at Metro Transit, Axel Henry in St. Paul and others, is a recommitment to community. And I think that is really the smart play.

Cathy Wurzer

Host

Lukas Levin

Author

Former Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington reflected on the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. 

Former public safety commissioner says he expected reform to continue years after George Floyd's death

Minnesota’s former top public safety official says reform has stalled

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