MINNEAPOLIS — A defense attorney for a former Minneapolis police officer questioned Friday whether poor training and a paramilitary culture were to blame for his client's failure to stop Derek Chauvin from killing George Floyd.
In cross examining a police inspector, Thomas Plunkett expounded on his opening statement that the department failed to adequately train J. Alexander Kueng, a rookie, especially on the "duty to intervene," a policy Plunkett has said amounts to "little more than a word on a PowerPoint" presentation.
Chauvin was Kueng's training officer for two out of four phases of the training process. Under Plunkett's questioning, Inspector Katie Blackwell acknowledged recruits are told to follow the lead of their field training officers, who have great influence on their careers.
