Retired LAPD chief speaks on Week 2 of Derek Chauvin trial

The Derek Chauvin trial resumed in Minneapolis, kicking off the second week of testimony and Monday marking Day 6 of calling witnesses on the stand.

The prosecution called three witnesses, first starting with the doctor who pronounced George Floyd dead. Dr. Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld says Floyd died of asphyxia. On cross-examination, the defense countered and asked the doctor if drugs can cause insufficient oxygen.

The doctor acknowledged that fentanyl and methamphetamine, both of which were found in Floyd's system, can do so.

Second on the stand was Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo, who has spent his whole career with the department. The city's top cop came out early on in the case and fired Chauvin and three other officers on the scene that Memorial Day in 2020. 

The chief called it "murder."

On Monday, he testified that Chauvin failed to follow department policies during Floyd's deadly arrest. Arradondo also told the court a neck restraint is not to be used against a suspect who is "passively resisting". He testified Chauvin failed in his duty to render first aid before the ambulance arrived.

FOX 11 spoke with retired LAPD Chief Bernard Parks shared his thoughts on Week 2 of the Derek Chauvin trial. Parks said the Achilles heel in policing is always the officers' abilities to apply what they learned from training in real-life situations.

"Do all of the officers understand how to apply training and to stay within the philosophy and the policy?" Parks said. "That's where the critical part of field supervision, monitoring, evaluation and the evolving of how you deal with circumstances really is done, with the application part."

Parks was on the department during its own high-profile case, the Rodney King beating in 1991 and the trial of four LAPD officers. The beating was caught on video by a resident on the balcony in what was the first of its kind case and video. The acquittal in the first trial led to the 1992 riots. The second trial led to convictions. 

Today, cell phones are everywhere and play a primary role in the Derek Chauvin trial in the death of George Floyd.

Parks was LAPD Chief from 1997 to 2002. He then served on the Los Angeles City Council from 2003 to 2015.

Below are FOX 11's interviews with Parks and former LAPD Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey.

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