DEREK CHAUVIN, THE policeman who killed George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, had a history of citizen complaints and was thought to be “tightly wound,” not a trait ideal for someone patrolling the streets with a deadly weapon. But under the police union’s collective bargaining agreement, the police commissioner lacked the authority to dismiss Chauvin, or even reassign him. The lack of supervisory authority resulted in harms that continue to reverberate in American society.
No society, organization, or group of people can function effectively without accountability. Accountability is essential for mutual trust. The prospect of accountability is the backdrop for a culture of shared energy and values. “A social organism of any sort whatever, large or small, is what it is because each member proceeds to his own duty,” philosopher William James noted, “with a trust that the other members will simultaneously do theirs.”
The absence of accountability, by contrast, is a recipe for a cynical and ineffective organization. Why do what’s right, or go the extra mile, when you know performance doesn’t matter? Distrust corrodes daily dealings. The broad sense that bad cops get away with abusive conduct helped fuel the national protests after the killing of Floyd.
Accountability is basically nonexistent in American government. Performance doesn’t matter. The Minneapolis Police Department had received 2,600 complaints in the decade prior to 2020. Twelve led to disciplinary measures, of which the most severe was a 40-hour suspension. Blatant misconduct is just the starting point for a negotiation. In 2019, a school principal in New York was discovered to have created a fraudulent system of school achievement. His penalty? He lost his position, but, because of public employee
