Malcolm Gladwell

That's Amanda Sertich, one of the U.S. attorneys who prosecuted Lane. She knows the evidence well, and specifically the role Lane and his partner Alexander King played that day.

That's Amanda Sertich, one of the U.S. attorneys who prosecuted Lane. She knows the evidence well, and specifically the role Lane and his partner Alexander King played that day.

Lane ended up spending two and a half years in federal prison for his part in Floyd's death. Sertich and her colleagues felt that he bore at least some portion of the blame. I understand their argument, although I have to say I do not agree with it. A rookie cop on his fourth day on the force tries to right a wrong and fails because his superior officer is a bad apple. Can we really blame him?

Lane ended up spending two and a half years in federal prison for his part in Floyd's death. Sertich and her colleagues felt that he bore at least some portion of the blame. I understand their argument, although I have to say I do not agree with it. A rookie cop on his fourth day on the force tries to right a wrong and fails because his superior officer is a bad apple. Can we really blame him?

Haven't all of us, in other situations, done a version of the same act of mitigated speech? Are you sure we should do that? That's a little much, don't you think? Is that really safe? But where I hope we can all agree is on the broader lesson here. One bad apple can infect the whole barrel. The fat tail matters.

Haven't all of us, in other situations, done a version of the same act of mitigated speech? Are you sure we should do that? That's a little much, don't you think? Is that really safe? But where I hope we can all agree is on the broader lesson here. One bad apple can infect the whole barrel. The fat tail matters.

Which is why the first step in any attempt to fix a problem with a fat tail distribution is to get rid of the fat tail. Target the super speeders. Contain the super spreaders. Get rid of Jerry Finnegan. Stop Derek Chauvin before he kills someone. Not afterwards. Right? if only it were that simple. In the fever days after Floyd died, there were hundreds of people on the streets of Minneapolis.

Which is why the first step in any attempt to fix a problem with a fat tail distribution is to get rid of the fat tail. Target the super speeders. Contain the super spreaders. Get rid of Jerry Finnegan. Stop Derek Chauvin before he kills someone. Not afterwards. Right? if only it were that simple. In the fever days after Floyd died, there were hundreds of people on the streets of Minneapolis.

Peaceful protests turned into riots and lootings. Buildings were burned. Hundreds of millions of dollars of damage was done. And one night, the crowd came calling for Jacob Fry, the mayor of Minneapolis.

Peaceful protests turned into riots and lootings. Buildings were burned. Hundreds of millions of dollars of damage was done. And one night, the crowd came calling for Jacob Fry, the mayor of Minneapolis.

Fry was 39 at the time. He'd been elected mayor three years earlier.

Fry was 39 at the time. He'd been elected mayor three years earlier.

In the footage of the demonstration that played on the evening news, you can see the mayor walking stiffly through the crowd, wearing a mask that says, I can't breathe.

In the footage of the demonstration that played on the evening news, you can see the mayor walking stiffly through the crowd, wearing a mask that says, I can't breathe.

Fry was following the logic of the fat tail. Yes, there may have been frustration with law enforcement at large, but if the problem is a small number of bad apples, then what sense is there in upending the whole institution? What you should be doing is cutting off the fat tail. The crowds outside chanted, defund the police. But in response, Fry started making a different argument.

Fry was following the logic of the fat tail. Yes, there may have been frustration with law enforcement at large, but if the problem is a small number of bad apples, then what sense is there in upending the whole institution? What you should be doing is cutting off the fat tail. The crowds outside chanted, defund the police. But in response, Fry started making a different argument.

This is what the mayor said at one of the first of the many press conferences he gave after the death of George Floyd. Unless we are willing to tackle the elephant in the room, which is the police union, there won't be a culture shift in the department. Could you talk a little bit more about that in the context of Minneapolis? When you said that, what did you mean?

This is what the mayor said at one of the first of the many press conferences he gave after the death of George Floyd. Unless we are willing to tackle the elephant in the room, which is the police union, there won't be a culture shift in the department. Could you talk a little bit more about that in the context of Minneapolis? When you said that, what did you mean?

The issue Fry is talking about, the police federation or the union, having more authority than it should, has become a common complaint in many other cities as well.

The issue Fry is talking about, the police federation or the union, having more authority than it should, has become a common complaint in many other cities as well.