Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
9-2023
Document Type
DNP Project
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Dr. José Perez
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dr. Richard Dool
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Dr. Karmyn Downs
Abstract
On May 25, 2020, four Minneapolis police officers reported to the location where an African American man had been accused of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill in a convenience store. After being taken outside of the store, the man, George Floyd, was eventually placed in the back of a police patrol car, after he was handcuffed. Saying he was claustrophobic and resisting arrest, Mr. Floyd was removed from the patrol car, and placed on the ground on his stomach. One of the patrol officers, the most senior officer present, and a field training officer, placed his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, while Floyd could be heard saying that he could not breathe. Two police officers also held Mr. Floyd down while a third officer conducted traffic control. The officers did not provide any medical assistance, contrary to their training. Mr. Floyd was not later pronounced dead. This study investigated the actions of the four former Minneapolis Police Department patrol officers from an organizational leadership perspective and assessed whether police organizational systems processes, organizational culture, and the organizational leaders’ leadership practices influenced the police officers’ behavior and choices. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to investigate police officers’ perspectives of the incident that resulted in George Floyd’s death. The study provided police officers an opportunity to communicate their perspectives, including how Floyd’s death has or has not impacted the police officers’ leadership and decision-making processes.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Henderson, Janet, "Police Officers’ Perspectives on the Death of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officers: A Descriptive Study" (2023). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 676.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/676
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Organization Development Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons