• Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Advertise
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Law Officer
Law Officer
No Result
View All Result

Minneapolis commander demoted after Facebook post involving police humor offends NAACP

Kim Lund Voss

Kim Lund Voss (Photo via StarTribune)

April 14, 2020
Jim McNeffbyJim McNeff
Share and speak up for justice, law & order...

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis police commander has been demoted after an alleged online uproar over a Facebook post about homicide investigations. The police humor drew self-righteous rebukes from the NAACP and Chief Medaria Arradondo.

The controversy began late  month after Kim Lund Voss posted a photo of a 1990s-era T-shirt that featured an image of crime scene tape and a chalk outline of a body drawn on it, with the words: “MINNEAPOLIS POLICE HOMOCIDE (sic) DIVISION Our Day Starts When Yours Ends.”

The phrase is commonly found on police-themed T-shirts, mugs and other memorabilia, but some considered it insensitive to homicide victims in a city where most are young black men, StarTribune reported.

In a caption with the photo, Voss wrote that she was “organizing the storage room and came across this gem!” adding that “it pays to proof read,” referring to the misspelling of the word “homicide.”

(Facebook)

Many people questioned whether the misspelling was intentional, given that the shirt was produced at a time when the city had seen a series of murders of gay men.

A screenshot of Voss’ post became widely circulated on social. As a result, it drew criticism from the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP and Arradondo, who later apologized, saying neither the photo nor the caption reflected “the values and transformational culture that we are as a department today.”

Voss, who is married to a former Minneapolis homicide detective, later deleted the post, saying that she didn’t intend to offend anyone.

Yet, some circles choose “victimhood” as a way of life, and cannot help but publicly roar their disapproval of something as silly as this.

Minneapolis NAACP President Leslie Redmond wrote on her Facebook page that she was “disturbed” that someone of Voss’ rank would make a potentially racially charged remark, Law Officer reported.

“I do not think this was about the misspelling of the word homicide,” Redmond wrote. “This is extremely insensitive, especially considering the involved demographics.”

The last we checked, Voss hasn’t said much on the disparity that African Americans suffer in Minneapolis in homicides, which is a rate 12 times higher than whites, but give her credit that a t-shirt has her outraged.

  • WILD MAN ATTACKS GAS STATION PATRONS, GETS TASED, STEALS POLICE UNIT BEFORE FATAL SHOOTING

Voss wrote on her publicly available Facebook page Sunday that she had been transferred to the South Side Third Precinct, where she will run the property crimes unit. In doing so, she will return to her rank of lieutenant, StarTribune reported.

“As we all know a fragment of a single moment may not give the full context to who I am, what I’m made of,” she wrote in the follow-up post.

Kim Lund Voss
Kim Lund Voss (Photo via StarTribune)

Department spokesman John Elder confirmed the move on Monday, adding that it was unclear who would fill her former post as commander of the Juvenile Division, an appointed position. Elder said the department had no further comment on what amounted to “an HR issue.”

Voss’ demotion followed a meeting last week between Arradondo and Redmond.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, a longtime civil rights attorney who also attended the meeting, said that as a leader Voss should’ve known the harm her words could inflict. The attorney’s piety took aim at Lund.

“Her intentions do not matter. What matters most is the outcome of the actions,” Armstrong said Monday. “As a leader within the Minneapolis Police Department she should have known that posting such an offensive message on social media would be highly offensive … not to mention to undermine public trust.”

  • TORNADO IN GEORGIA LIFTS HOUSE, PLACES IT IN MIDDLE OF ROAD DURING DEADLY STORM

In her follow-up post, Voss wrote that the T-shirt was made as a “fundraiser by a private businessman for his business” and that the “words a few have used to describe [me] are not true.”

“My daughter served in the Peace Corps in Africa. My Son is an accomplished musician. We celebrate the musical greats together, from Sam Cooke, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and of course Notorious B.I.G.,” she wrote.

“As for those of the LGBTQ community, a community that is rich with love and acceptance, I’m sorry, the guy that made the shirt just didn’t know how to spell,” she added.

Voss was in the running for a highly sought after position when this event unfolded, according to Law Officer sources. Now she’s been targeted, tried, and convicted by an unmerciful few. Sadly, the “sentence” from such a mockery will be difficult to undo.

 


Share and speak up for justice, law & order...
Tags: Chief Medaria ArradondoJohn ElderKim Lund VossLeslie RedmondMinneapolis Police DepartmentnaacpNekima Levy Armstrong
Jim McNeff

Jim McNeff

Jim McNeff is the managing editor of Law Officer. As a Medal of Valor recipient with more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement and the military, Jim brings experience, insight, and a keen perspective to the issues affecting law enforcement. For nearly a decade, Jim has also served the law enforcement community as a writer and editor following the latest news, facts, and figures concerning law enforcement seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Jim is a retired police lieutenant and served a municipal police department for 28 years. Previously, Jim was a crewmember of the National Emergency Airborne Command Post—a presidential support detail. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Southwest University, and is a graduate of the esteemed Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute and the Leadership in Police Organizations IACP course of study. Jim is also the author of three police-related books: The Spirit Behind Badge 145, Justice Revealed, and Jurisdiction.

Related Posts

Minnesota

Noncitizen joins Minneapolis police force

September 28, 2024
Chief Brian OHara

Judge allows former officer’s defamation suit to move forward against Minneapolis, Chief O’Hara

July 24, 2024
Minneapolis Police

Minneapolis Police Department releases bodycam videos from Officer Jamal Mitchell’s murder, police response

June 22, 2024
Jamal Mitchell

MPD officer dead, another injured along with several civilians shot in Minneapolis

May 31, 2024
Kamau Evans

MPD apprehends suspect following armed domestic assaults and shots fired at police

January 16, 2024
homeless encampment

Man killed in fatal shooting at south Minneapolis homeless encampment

December 14, 2023
Load More

Latest Articles

I’m Not Broken, I’m Dangerous

July 4, 2025

The Problem with Promotions

June 20, 2025
Melissa Hortman

Former Minnesota House Speaker Assassinated in Attack on Multiple Lawmakers

June 14, 2025

Sheriff: If You Throw a Brick At Our Deputy, ‘We Will Kill You, Graveyard Dead’

June 13, 2025

Former USAID Officer and Executives Plead Guilty in $550 Million Bribery Scheme

June 13, 2025

A Case Study in Federal Corruption and Media Silence

June 12, 2025
Load More

Weekly E-Newsletter

Subscribe—and get the latest news and editorials direct from Law Officer each week!

[newsletter_form type="minimal"]

Protect Your Privacy

JOIN THE FIGHT

BE COURAGEOUS

POPULAR GEAR

Tactical Pants

Tactical Boots

 

FIND MORE…

Law Officer

© 2024 LawOfficer.com

LawOfficer.com

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact

Speak up for justice, law & order

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Advertise
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact

© 2024 LawOfficer.com