Mpls. Mayor, Police Chief Promise To Take Wrecking Ball To ‘Blue Wall Of Silence’ After Noor Verdict

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — In a CBS News exclusive, we are hearing from the fiancé of Justine Ruszczyk Damond.

Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor shot and killed her in July of 2017. Last week, a jury found Noor guilty of her murder.

In his first network interview since the verdict, Don Damond talked about going forward.

READ MORE: Minneapolis Reaches $20M Settlement With Justine Ruszczyk Damond’s Family

“I would like the Minneapolis Police Department to go back and consider how officers are trained,” Damond said.

He hopes the shooting death of the love of his life fosters change in the way officers are trained in the city of Minneapolis.

“I can understand [why] Black Lives Matter is so angry, because you can see the unjustified shootings across this nation,” Damond said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says he has been focused on changing the culture within the department since he took office. He says that “warrior-style” training – which assumes an individual is a threat until proven otherwise — has no place in the police department. Frey says he wants to focus on training approved by Chief Medaria Arradondo.

READ MORE: After Noor Verdict, Mayor Frey Stresses Need To Rebuild Trust In Police Force

“Procedural justice training, baking the sanctity of life into every interaction, implicit bias training, recognizing that every single person out there — including you and I — have some form of implicit bias,” Frey said. “We’re looking at our de-escalation training and policies. Making sure that it is literally baked into muscle memory.”

Frey says he and Arradondo will take a wrecking ball to the “blue wall of silence,” and make sure officers understand their duty to serve and protect.

“We still have a ways to go, but we’re getting there,” Frey said. “We’re getting there in terms of accountability. We’re getting there in terms of transparency.”

He says this is not the kind of culture shift or change you see overnight.

“The only way forward right now is together, is to learn from our mistakes, to improve into the future, and to not just talk about what we’re going to do but actually see those actions become reality,” Frey said.

Frey says he and Chief Arradondo are committed to improving police community relations.

READ MORE: Mohamed Noor Being Held At Minnesota’s Only Maximum Security Prison As He Awaits Sentencing