TOWNSEND — Chief James Sartell wishes to share the following letter with the Townsend community:
To the citizens of our community,
On behalf of the men and women of the Townsend Police Department, we would like to extend our prayers, sympathy, and condolences to the family of George Floyd and the entire community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. We are shocked and deeply saddened by the actions of the officers who were involved in the death of George Floyd. His death was a failure by all in uniform who had an opportunity to intervene and is not reflective of the mission and values of the Townsend Police Department or the community we serve.
The Townsend Police Department works tirelessly to build and maintain trust within our
community. We work with community groups, organizations, and leaders to build trust,
legitimacy, and partnerships. I can assure you that the Townsend Police Department is
committed to providing safety and security for all members of the Townsend community. Our on-going training, whether in de-escalation, defensive tactics, use of force decision making, or implicit bias is aimed at providing our officers the tools to protect you, the public, and themselves, in a competent and professional manner.
As a profession, we must consider how to strengthen public trust when it has been violated so egregiously. We will continue our efforts to assess and critique our policies, training and procedures to ensure that they are consistent with recognized best practices. We will also continue to work hard to attract and hire men and women who seek to provide services consistent with the high ideals of policing a free society. You can rely on our officers to treat people with dignity and respect; the core principles of procedural justice and police legitimacy.
We want to thank you for your ongoing, and critically important, support during these difficult times. The Public are the Police and the Police are the Public. Please stay safe and be kind to one another.
Respectfully,
James Sartell
Chief of Police
###