Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau announced her resignation on Friday, 6 days after Officer Mohamed Noor shot and killed Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian woman, that had approached the police car that Noor was a passenger in.
‘Justine didn’t have to die. This should not have happened,’ Harteau said during a press conference on Thursday.
A day later, Harteau said that she has decided “to step aside to let a fresh set of leadership eyes see what more can be done for the MPD to be the very best it can be.”
“Last Saturday’s tragedy, as well as some other recent incidents, have caused me to engage in deep reflection,” Harteau said in her statement.
Mayor Betsy Hodges issued a statement after Harteau resigned, saying she asked for the chief to step down.
Hodges and Harteau have had a rocky relationship with one public fight involving the Mayor disagreeing with a promotion that Harteau had made.
A year ago, Hodges and Harteau appeared together in a press conference to announce changes to the department’s use of force policy.
In that press conference, it was announced that Minneapolis police officers will be trained to exhaust all reasonable means in defusing potentially violent encounters before resorting to force.
On Friday, it was one officer’s use of force that ended Chief Harteau’s career at MPD.
