Lack of leadership accountability is a common theme in police departments dominated by racist violence against Black people. Cops violate the law or department policy rarely face consequences. Cops who brutalize and kill rarely face consequences. Professional consequences among senior leadership are even more rare.

Failure of leadership is huge here. I was in the naval ROTC when I was in college, and I learned something about leadership that impressed me then even as it felt unjust. In the Navy, if a ship is damaged by hitting another ship or by running aground, the captain loses his command automatically. That normally means he loses his career. This happens even if the accident that damaged the ship was truly an accident and beyond the captain's control.

The reasoning is that if you're at the top, you are responsible for everything that happens – no matter what. So you'd better put systems in place to avoid damage to your ship, because ships are the Navy's most valuable assets and number one priority.

Should we not value human lives in the same way? Are the lives of Black people in Minneapolis less important than a war ship?

When cops kill innocent people, as above, the police chief should lose their command and go back to being a beat cop. There should be no questions asked. It should be as automatic as in the Navy. (Obviously, the cops who kill innocent people should face criminal accountability as well.)

If police chiefs knew their jobs were on the line, they would move fast to put systems in place to make sure cops don't kill innocent people, just like Navy captains make damn sure their ships don't get damaged.

When cops kill innocent Black people and everything just goes on is before, then we demonstrate very well that Black lives do not matter.