The Death of a Poet and the Collapse of the Professional Police Model
I have spent more than 30 years in policing, including two decades as Chief of Police in Madison. I have seen policing at its best—as a guardian of democracy—and at its worst. I began my career as a street cop in Minneapolis. But what we witnessed this week in Minneapolis is a new and dangerous low.
The fatal shooting yesterday of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet and mother, by federal agents is not an “unfortunate incident.” It is a systemic failure of selection, training, and leadership. It is the predictable result of fielding a paramilitary force that operates outside the professional standards and constitutional oaths that local police have spent decades refining.
The Tactical Failure: Violating the Rules of the Road
Modern police leaders tackled the danger of vehicle shootings years ago. In any professional department, you will find policy language that states:
- “Officers shall not discharge a firearm at a moving vehicle unless deadly force is being used by means other than the vehicle.”
- “Officers will not intentionally place themselves in front of moving vehicles to create justification for force.”
These are not “suggestions”; they are life-saving guardrails. Video from the Minneapolis scene suggests these federal agents ignored these fundamental principles, firing into a moving car in a populated area. This is a gross failure of training and leadership. If a local officer did this, they would face internal affairs, dismissal and even criminal charges. Why do we allow federal agents to operate with lower standards on our own streets?
The Washington Spin Machine
Even more chilling than the shooting itself is the immediate flood of disinformation coming from Washington. Before any independent investigation could begin, we saw high-ranking officials labeling the victim a “domestic terrorist” and claiming “self-defense” against a vehicle used as a weapon.
As a veteran investigator, I know that when the narrative is “fixed” before the forensics are in, justice is already being subverted. We are seeing a “Plethora of Falsehoods” designed to shield federal agents from the accountability that every local cop in America faces daily. When the federal government uses propaganda to justify the killing of its residents, the very pillars of our democracy begin to crumble.
The Choice: Guardrails or Surrender?
I find myself in total agreement with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s blunt assessment: “ICE, get out of our cities!”When federal agents operate masked, unidentifiable, abusing people and without the transparency required of a free society, they are not “police.” They are an arm of executive convenience. When local police stand aside and allow these tactics to occur in their jurisdictions, something fundamental breaks. Trust collapses. Silence becomes complicity.
A Call to Action
We are no longer asking for “cooperation”; we are demanding accountability. In Madison, we are forming a coalition calling for our local police leaders and sheriff to serve as the final guardrails of our democracy through three specific pillars:
- Document and Report: Actively monitor and record all federal operations to ensure safety and transparency.
- Intervene: Uphold the “Duty to Intervene.” If a federal agent uses unlawful force or conducts a warrantless entry, local police must act to protect the resident–even step in if life is endangered
- Pursue Accountability: Affirm that federal agents do not have blanket immunity. If they violate state laws—including criminal trespass or excessive force—they must be investigated and prosecuted.
We are Better Than This
We must do the hard, unglamorous work of fixing our broken immigration system. We must offer a path to citizenship for our neighbors who work hard, obey our laws, and live among us. They are not criminals, and our nation should not treat them as such.
History will not ask whether this moment was comfortable for those who lead our nation’s police. It will ask whether they did their duty when it mattered most. It is time to stand up, speak out and resist!
— Minneapolis video: I have to wonder, who’s in charge here?
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 
Thank you, David. I appreciate so much your tireless service for the safety andbetterment of our communities.
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We will overcome this!
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A very troubling incident of excessive force for sure, but one that is entirely predictable given the anti-law enforcement climate in these “sanctuary” cities. Now we have a completely irresponsible Mayor saying the feds “Murdered” this individual. That’s not at all the case, but here is the same fool who kneeled at the coffin of George Floyd, virtue signaling and playing to his support base at the expense of his primary responsibility, keeping the city safe. Instead he, and those of like minds, fan the flames of chaos and disorder, placing themselves in direct conflict with the fundamental mission of the police.
This is not a failure of police training, it’s a failure of reason over adolescent passions by political activists and it WILL lead to more violence and rioting. This incident, and all instances where protesters and rioters refuse to do what they are told by the police could be avoided if these “sanctuary” jurisdictions would submit to legitimate federal authority and cooperate with ICE, making these kinds of street encounters much less likely.
What should be clear by now is that the feds are not going to back down and local police leaders are going to suffer career ending embarrassment by trying to walk and increasingly narrow fence between the egotistical whims of these political fools and their own oath of office. Local police leaders need to subordinate themselves to legitimate federal authorly or resign.
O’Hara needs stop with the CNN interviews and get a handle on the growing violence, the mob hates him and his officers just as much as ICE. The same thing is true in Madison, by the way, despite the laudable efforts of that agency to build legitimacy over the years.
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Well, after all these years of disagreement, I find agreement today with you regarding the shooting in Minneapolis — You wrote, “A very troubling incident of excessive force for sure…” On that, I agree with you. But that’s as far as I would go. I hope you don’t share the rest of this response with your students at Platteville. Maybe remind them and teach them, instead, about our Constitution and the Oath of Office to which they will soon have to swear to as police officers along with a Code of Ethics.
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