Minneapolis police union President Bob Kroll bashes chief in radio interview

Minneapolis Police Officers Federation President Bob Kroll lashed out at Chief Medaria Arradondo in a radio interview and called for him to step down, saying Arradondo failed to challenge city officials and protesters in the wake of George Floyd's killing.

Kroll said it was his job as head of the union representing roughly 800 rank-and-file cops to call out "bad leadership" by Arradondo, the latest sign of growing friction between the two leaders. Arradondo made national headlines a few weeks after Floyd's death when he pulled out of contract negotiations with the union, saying he intended to be on the "right side of history."

"I've always gotten along with our current chief, and until this happened, we did get along better than any other [past chief], but I'm going to call out failed leadership where it's at, and that is the entire command staff," said the police lieutenant, who until recently had been publicly supportive of Arradondo. "How can you be a copper 30-plus years and give up your integrity and just go with what you know is absolutely wrong?"

Kroll's comments came in an interview Tuesday on the "Queen and the Cop" program, broadcast on the Mix Radio Network, an online radio station that bills itself as "the only station in the world dedicated to First Responders," according to its Facebook page.

Kroll argued that Arradondo should have pushed harder for more officers after a recent wave of departures since Floyd's death that Kroll says has left the department with fewer than 790 working cops amid rising crime.

"The chief has said we're going to be on the wrong side of history, and he's going to be on the right side of history. Hey, you're the guy that a year ago asked the mayor for 400 more cops over a five-year period, and instead you're getting a 200-officer reduction," he said. "And your officers are in harm's way more than ever, and you're going to take that? No, sir, you're the one that needs to leave and you will be on the wrong side of history."

Dozens of officers have left the department over the past few months and applied for jobs with law enforcement agencies in Washington County, Lino Lakes and Cloquet, according to Kroll.

A police spokesman declined to comment and Kroll did not respond to an interview request.

The tension between the two leaders comes at a crucial time for the city's beleaguered police force, which finds itself grappling with a state human rights investigation, mass departures and continued calls for its defunding, or even abolishment.

Many point to the politically influential union as a significant roadblock to reforming the department. A recent Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 poll found that nearly 80% of residents believe the union has too much influence over the disciplining of officers accused of misconduct.

Kroll also criticized protesters who gathered outside his home in Hugo over the weekend, demanding his removal and destroying effigies of Kroll and his wife, Liz Collin, a WCCO-TV anchor and reporter.

"We're losing control of civil behavior in society these days because of things like this," said Kroll. He said that the protest had left his neighbors rattled.

The outspoken union leader has been a regular target for police reformists, both for his unabashed defense of officers accused of misconduct and because critics believe he represents the kind of policing that has long plagued communities of color.

In 2007, he was named in a racial discrimination lawsuit against the department brought by five Black officers — including Arradondo — after Kroll called then-U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison a terrorist and made disparaging comments about a gay aide to former Mayor R.T. Rybak in front of several other high-ranking commanders. Both Kroll and Arradondo have since said they have settled their differences, but their relationship soured after the chief abruptly withdraw from labor negotiations earlier this summer.

Talks between the city and the federation have continued without Arradondo.

Kroll, who first took over as union president in 2015, most recently drew the ire of activists and others, like Mayor Jacob Frey, when he joined President Donald Trump on stage at his rally at Target Center in October. After Floyd's death, Kroll sent a letter to his membership, blasting police brass, Frey and the City Council for what he called the city's lackluster response to the rioting that followed, writing that officers were being made "scapegoats" for the ensuing violence.

"I think the only thing I agree about with Kroll is that civil discourse or civil society seems to be breaking down right now, but this whole vilifying Chief Arradondo is not the way we're going to heal this city through the trauma of George Floyd," Council Member Linea Palmisano said about Kroll's interview.

Kroll's backers say he is being unfairly vilified for doing the fundamental job of a union leader: advocating for his membership.

He joined the department in 1989 and was elected to his first two-year term as union president in 2015. Kroll has signaled he intends to step down next spring after his latest two-year term ends.

But in his interview Tuesday, he said that the recent public backlash had convinced him to stay, despite the fact that he reached retirement age two weeks ago.

"Now these people are causing me to stay, because I can't make it look like they're chasing me out. I've never backed away from a fight in my life," he said. "The same people who want me gone so bad, from the protesters to the mayor to the City Council to the governor, now they're getting me stuck here longer, so the joke's on you."