Columbia city manager comments on Chauvin guilty verdict

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The head of Columbia's city government on Wednesday sought to distance the city from the actions of the former police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.

City Manager John Glascock also pledged to continue working on police issues.

"The actions that led to Floyd’s death do not reflect the values of the City of Columbia. We hold our officers to the highest standards and will continue to have these difficult conversations," Glascock said in a prepared statement. "The City of Columbia and the Columbia Police Department continue to work with an equity officer to revise policy, training and practice to ensure all of our community’s residents are treated equally and with respect."

One of those revisions came in October, when the police department revised its policy on chokeholds and deadly force. Under the new policy, chokeholds are not allowed "unless deadly force is authorized and, due to the circumstances at hand, is the only reasonable means available at the time to stop the threat."

The Columbia City Council rejected an outright ban on chokeholds in January.

Floyd died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on Floyd's neck for more than 9 minutes after struggling to get Floyd inside a squad car. A jury on Tuesday convicted Chauvin of two counts of murder and one charge of manslaughter, effectively saying Chauvin used unreasonable force.

Glascock in his statement also emphasized the Principles of Community adopted by the city council. The principles include a community-wide duty to eliminate prejudice and discrimination.