GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – “And I thought, this is going to make law enforcement’s job much more difficult.”
Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith is concerned the death last week of George Floyd in Minneapolis, could damage the good relationship between his officers and the Green Bay community.
Smith isn’t going so far as to resort to the old cliche that a ‘few bad apples’ ruin it for police. But he does say the actions of rogue cops can paint them all in a bad light.
“we’re going to be dealing with the aftermath of that for a while, just like we did for, several other times in the 32 years I’ve been doing this.”
The result around the country has been police stations burned, squad cars destroyed, and uniformed officers attacked.
“much more dangerous for cops across the country…and its proven me out over the last couple of days.”
The protests in recent days have been mostly peaceful….until a few people, some from out of state, move in with their agenda.
“I they recognize that our officers are out there working hard and doing a good job everyday. But, there’s people here that hate police, have always hated police.”
Chief Smith says he has, and will continue, to reach out to minority and neighborhood groups around the city.
“I can tell them the things Green Bay Police Department has done to insure that things of this nature (Minneapolis) won’t happen here in Green Bay.”
As for local demonstrations, Smith tells his officers to let protestors do their thing in a peaceful way, respectfully tell them when they’re getting close to crossing the line, and take a more aggressive approach if the event leads to violence against people and-or damage to property.
