Legal and criminal justice experts say police officers have long been required to protect not only themselves and the public, but also the people they arrest. That duty could be key at the trial of a former Minneapolis officer accused in George Floyd’s death. Floyd was declared dead last May after Derek Chauvin pressed a knee on his neck for about nine minutes. Criminal justice reform advocate Alex Vitale says what Chauvin did goes against the police department’s use-of-force policy. But the defense is expected to argue that Floyd bears at least some blame for his death by swallowing drugs as officers were about to confront him.
