Pro-tip: if you want off-duty police officers to voluntarily place themselves in harm’s way while protecting your event, you probably shouldn’t protest them. The Minnesota Lynx, of the Women’s National Basketball Association, learned that lesson after hopping on the anti-police bandwagon at a recent game. From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Four off-duty Minneapolis police officers working the Minnesota Lynx game at Target Center on Saturday night walked off the job after the players held a news conference denouncing racial profiling, then wore Black Lives Matter pregame warm-up jerseys.
Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the Minneapolis Police Federation, the union that represents rank-and-file officers, praised them for quitting. “I commend them for it,” he said. Kroll said the four officers also removed themselves from a list of officers working future games. He did not know who the officers were. “Others said they heard about it and they were not going to work Lynx games,” he said.
Asked if other officers will fill in for those who quit, Kroll said, “If [the players] are going to keep their stance, all officers may refuse to work there.”
This shouldn’t be controversial. Off-duty work is just that, beyond the scope of duty. Police officers retain the right to choose who they will work for and on what terms. It is absurd to expect them to work an event for a organization that has chosen to actively protest them.
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