I hope the Derek Chauvin case had—and is still having—a huge impact on policing, especially to incorporate better training on ways to de-escalate. I hope police departments are taking a look at their understanding of brutality.

The first responding officers were pointing weapons at George Floyd on the allegation he could have maybe passed a counterfeit $20 bill. They weren’t responding to a situation involving extreme violence. If they had known proper de-escalation tactics or followed proper policing in general, I think Mr. Floyd would be here today.

Most police departments’ policies probably say, in some way, “don’t brutalize people.” But policies without action are just pieces of paper. If brutality is still an accepted part of the officer mentality—if it’s the culture of a police department to terrorize communities—then policy reform doesn’t really matter.

I’m not anti-police; I’m anti-bad-police. I think we need to take a really hard and close look at the police officers in our communities. If an officer has many complaints against them [Editor’s note: Chauvin had 18, according to the Minneapolis Police Department in 2020], why is that officer still on the street?

I think every officer who puts on a uniform for the wrong reason—to exercise and exert their dominance and control over marginalized communities—should not get to keep their job.

We can’t have the attitude that, because police put their lives on the line every day, whatever they do is right.

We have to look at leadership. We have to look at the chiefs of police who can have an effect on culture. We have to try to dismantle some of this system from the inside.

When people say cases like Chauvin’s make it too risky for police to do their jobs fully, I reject that argument. If you’re scared your actions are going to make you end up like Derek Chauvin, then be better than Derek Chauvin. Do your job in a way that makes sure that doesn’t happen.

There are medical malpractice suits every day. Do we look at doctors and surgeons and say they can’t be expected to do their job because there’s always the risk of a lawsuit? No. We expect doctors and surgeons to exercise extreme care and diligence in their approach to their work.

People, particularly people in the Black and Brown community, should not have to fear encountering a police officer. This issue plagues Black communities and Black families. And we still have a long way to go.

Again, I am not anti-police. I don’t want to live in a community where there’s no police force, but I also don’t want to live with the anxiety that my husband or my brother will meet up with a Derek Chauvin one day. –as told to Liz Miller (July 2024)

Natasha Townes Robinson is now a senior associate attorney at Fredriksson & Byron P.A. Motivated by the Chauvin case, she sought a firm with an ingrained commitment to pro bono work. She spends her volunteer hours on racial justice issues such as wrongful convictions and expungements. Robinson has been named a 2023 Up & Coming Attorney by Minnesota Lawyer magazine, received the 2023 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the National Bar Association Women Lawyers Division, and has been named to Top 40 Under 40 lists by the National Bar Association and the National Black Lawyers.