By Greg Halbleib
While many Americans are calling for swift justice for officers involved in shooting deaths of two black men this week, Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner reminds us that officers are entitled to the full legal process.
“It certainly does not look good,” Heffner told WJBC’s Susan Saunders in reaction to citizen video of shootings of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. “But we still have to wait for all of the information, and police officers deserve due process just like anyone else.”
Heffner says although private citizens often take cell phone videos of controversial incidents, those videos are not a complete record of what happened.
“They’re videoing from just that moment,” Heffner said. “There are things that occur before that that are not on there. There are other things that have happened before that, and we don”t get to see that.”
Heffner says despite anger directed at officers over recent shootings, police are still the one constantly serving the public.
“People forget that somebody’s out there at midnight working in the rain or in the cold, helping someone whose car has broken down or helping someone in need getting to where they need to go,” said Heffner. “In the worst conditions we’re 24/7.”
Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].
