Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff on the Charges Against Officer Kimberly Potter

April 15 2021

Today, Center for Policing Equity CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff released the following statement on the Charges Against Officer Kimberly Potter:

Equitable systems of policing and public safety can never take root without accountability. That is doubly true in communities that have been scarred by state-sponsored violence, such as Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, or torn apart by decades of disinvestment and discrimination.

That’s why the decision by the Washington County Attorney's Office to charge Kimberly Potter — the officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright — with second-degree manslaughter is a necessary step. The failure to hold officers responsible when they use lethal force as anything other than a last resort destroys the very premise of public safety.

These charges are cold comfort to the friends and family of Mr. Wright, and every community traumatized by police shootings. They are not justice. But they are required if we ever hope to bring about the kind of peaceful communities we all deserve.

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About Center for Policing Equity: As a research and action organization, Center for Policing Equity (CPE) produces analyses identifying and reducing the causes of racial disparities in public safety. Using data-driven approaches to social justice, we use science to create levers for social, cultural, and policy change. Center for Policing Equity also holds a 501(c)3 status.