Glen Cove Police Department addresses killing of George Floyd

Glen Cove Police Department Chief William Whitton said that he was distraught after seeing the video of Minneapolis Police Department Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he pleaded that he could not breathe.

“What I saw when I watched that video was egregious and it sickened my stomach . . . it still does when I think about it,” Whitton said. “It’s completely devoid of logic and reasoning and there is no explanation for what any of us watched in that video. It’s indefensible.” 

As a police officer, Detective Lt. John Nagle said he noticed that Floyd of was handcuffed, meaning that the officer would have control over the situation. “By him keeping that person involved with the knee on his neck for all to see is over the top here,” Nagle said.

“He’s been charged with murder in the third degree,” Whitton added. “When he goes into court, good luck for the attorney on his side trying to say anything that anybody will buy.” 

Whitton says the three officers that stood idly by are just as culpable as Chauvin is. “I’ve been in the business for a long time,” Whitton said. “I’m proud of what I do and I’m proud of the men and women in the Glen Cove Police Department and I’m proud of the officers that I know from sister departments in the county. What you saw in that video is a complete and total anomaly. No police officer that I know would ever justify, tolerate and try to explain that.”

When asked if Glen Cove Police Department officers wear body cameras, Whitton said that they do not. It will probably be the federal government that will eventually provide them, which he said he would receive with open arms. “I looked into it,” he said. “The problem is the extreme expense of the storage and the data.”

Whitton said that the vast majority of Glen Cove Police Department officers are from the community and are constantly trained “365 days a year” to prevent incidents of excessive force and brutality.

The daily training takes the form of communication, Whitton said. He has conversations with his officers, and added that supervisors, training officers and sergeants often provide guidance. Additionally, there is formalized training. 

“One of the things we really worked hard on the last couple of years is de-escalation,” Whitton said. What that means is we walk into a pressure filled situation instead of moving right to make an arrest, which could have the situation turned combative. There's a lot of verbalization going on to try to deescalate that situation.”

De-escalation can lead to a more peaceful arrest if one needs to be made. “Sometimes that can’t happen because people are completely and totally out of touch with reality because of a psychotic break or some type of drug issue or intoxication and there’s no choice,” he said. 

“In Glen Cove we’re a pretty diverse police department and we work with the community and I believe our supervisors are doing a great job supervising,” Nagle added, “and the patrol officers are well trained and know how to handle themselves in the street.”

Whitton said that the police department virtually has no complaints or lawsuits against it. “We practice a lot of community policing,” Whitton said. “We’re out in the community quite a bit in a positive way, forging relationships and doing things such as ‘National Night Out’ and ‘Operation Safe Child’ and working in the schools.” 

 However, when asked if he would share the department’s records that would indicate any complaints if it did exist, Whitton said it could not be provided because of New York state’s Civil Rights Law Section 50-A, that privatizes personnel records for police officers, firefighters and correction officers.

Rev. A.H. Sparkman, the pastor of Calvary African Methodist Episcopal AME Church in Glen Cove, said that he is interested in promoting a public discourse on reforms in law enforcement that would be assisted by public input “that acknowledges the reality of how racism affects how police work is done in the various communities of New York. I am also interested in promoting a public discourse,” Sparkman said, “which holds the operators of judicial machinery accountable for maintaining inherent inequalities in the criminal justice system.” 

Saying that he respects the work done by law enforcement, Sparkman added that what occurred between the police in Minneapolis and George Floyd was unfortunate and outrageous.

If a protest were to happen in Glen Cove, Whitton said, the right to freedom of speech, along with public safety, would be the primary concern. Whitton said he would also be willing to meet with any organizers to offer assistance.