Orlando Police Chief Rolon, Orange County Sheriff Mina discuss George Floyd death

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - FOX 35 News spoke with two of the region’s top law enforcement officers, Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon and Orange County Sheriff John Mina, about the death of George Floyd.

Floyd is at the center of controversial video out of Minneapolis, which appears to show a police officer pinning Floyd to the ground while others stand near them. It has led to nationwide outrage with.violent protests erupting in cities across the country. Buildings have gone up in flames in Minneapolis and a Target store was trashed by looters.

Both Rolon and Mina have denounced the actions of the officers involved. Mina called the actions taken by police officers indefensible and wants to see criminal charges brought against them.

“I just think it was awful," he said. "It really goes against everything that we’re taught in law enforcement, our basic principles.”

“This is disturbing," said Rolon. "This should have never happened. This is not the way we train our officers, this is not what we expect from the persons who wear the badge.”

The sheriff agreed that this should never have happened.

“There is no justification. That is not an approved technique to put your knee on someone’s neck,” said Mina, placing blame on the other officers as well. “We’re trained to deescalate, we’re trained to intercede when we see excessive force, we’re trained to stop that,” said Mina.

Both law enforcement leaders fear the toll this will take on public trust.

“It sets us back by many years. All the efforts we’ve tried to gain that trust, earn that trust and protect that trust from our citizens, is eroded in a matter of seconds,” said Rolon.

Chief Rolon, hopes the public doesn’t judge all law enforcement based on the actions of a few.

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