Lexington Police Chief Terrence Green has commented on the Minneapolis, MN, violence.

Protesters and rioters have taken to the streets after a Minneapolis police officer was videoed holding George Floyd down and suffocating him with his knee on his neck.

"The death of George Floyd earlier this week has brought the words of Martin Luther King Jr. to mind that 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,'' Chief Green wrote on social media.

"I, like so many of you, have felt grief, anger and can see how the actions of a few can overshadow the work our officers do each day throughout the Town of Lexington, SC community.

"Our officers take an oath to enforce the law but to do so while never employing unnecessary force or violence.

"What we have seen in the videos involving George Floyd was not that and I have faith that justice will be served.

"Over the last several days I've had many ask about our officers, the training they receive and what our expectations are in handling situations where force is used.

"I want to take a moment to talk about what I feel is most important in the public trust that is placed on each of our officers.

"We put a tremendous focus on training and in my mind, it's the foundation of a law enforcement professional. While the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy mandate is 40 hours of training every 3 years to maintain certification, on average our officers attend over 100 hours of training each year.

"As an example, in 2019 our officers attended over 6,500 hours of training which included annual re-certifications and advanced training in include verbal deescalation cultural diversity, response to resistance, mental health, ethics, among others both hands on and in the classroom.

"As an internationally accredited police department through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, we are constantly making sure that our policies and procedures are up to date and reflect best practices within law enforcement.

"We have a number of ways to review the actions of our officers, which start with both in-car and body worn cameras but also include early warning systems to identify and correct issues seen as well as officers working in small teams within every division with multiple levels of supervision.

"I learned a long time ago that our work as a department benefits greatly by investing time and effort into meaningful networking with an ever growing connection with our community partners.

"We've also found that these collaborations create common ground and break down the many misconceptions about law enforcement.

"Our mission statement is "To Provide Exceptional Police Service While Building a Partnership with the Community We Serve" and if you ever have questions or concerns, please give me a call at 803-359-6260 or email tgreen@lexsc.com.