Golden Valley Police to Roll Out New Tool for Greater Transparency
The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has some police departments reviewing their policies and procedures. Golden Valley Police Chief Jason Sturgis said his department already has training and programs in place to prevent these types of events.
“For our initial hiring process, everyone spends six complete days with a psychologist. They’ll have some one-on-one time with them,” Sturgis said. “We get a pretty extensive report back from a psychologist whether or not someone is fit or unfit for law enforcement.”
Sturgis said his department does several community outreach efforts throughout the year such as “Coffee with a Cop.” The programs help to strengthen community and law enforcement relationships.
This year, the department implemented an officer-wellness program. It includes a one-on-one check-in with a mental health professional. Sturgis said the department will soon roll out a new web-based dashboard with the goal of providing better transparency of police activity in the community.
“We put a fair amount of data already on our web page but this would sort of bring it together as well as include data on traffic stops,” Sturgis explained.
He said the data will show where and how traffic stops are made. The web page will also show the race of who was stopped.
The police chief added that the Golden Valley Police Department embraces diversity and supports the right to assemble and peacefully protest.
