The Hopkins City Council and our staff, including our colleagues at the Hopkins Police Department, extend our condolences and deepest sympathy to the family, friends and loved ones of George Floyd. Mr. Floyd was a resident of St. Louis Park, our neighboring community – He could easily have been one of our own.
Here in Hopkins, we consider our rich diversity to be one of our greatest assets. We do not, and will not, tolerate racism of any kind.
Our hearts break for our black community and all communities of color, who are not only hurting because of this senseless act, but who have been hurting for many decades as a result of years and years of systemic racism.
The City of Hopkins’ vision statement clearly states, “Creating a spirit of community where all people feel safe and respected and diversity is celebrated.” We know that this statement does not ring true for many right now.
We at the City have work to do, and we are committed to doing our part to dismantle racism and help make our community feel safe and welcoming to everyone.
We want to reinforce to our staff and community the importance of speaking up if, and when, you see something that is wrong. This includes all of our first responders. To build trust within our community, we must be willing to hold each other and ourselves accountable to our standards and our oath to protect.
We also ask our residents to take this time to reflect on what we can all be doing to further race equity in our community. Listen to your neighbors. Examine your own bias. Educate yourselves on ways you can be an ally to our black community and all communities of color.
We invite anyone with concerns to reach out to us. We see you and we will hear what you have to say.