ON "60 MINUTES": MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF SAYS POLICE UNION AND ITS LEADER MUST DECIDE WHETHER TO BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OR WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY

The union and its leader representing Minneapolis police have to choose to be on the right or the wrong side of history, says the department's chief, Medaria Arradondo. The chief fired four of his officers for the brazen killing of George Floyd that was caught on video and continues to be played across the world; the police union has criticized those firings. The union's leader, Robert Kroll, has called the Black Lives Matter movement a "terrorist organization." Amid worldwide protests against police brutality and the deaths of countless Black men at the hands of law enforcement, the police chief of the city at the center of the movement talks to Lesley Stahl on the next edition of 60 MINUTES, Sunday, June 21 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"[Kroll] is absolutely... an influencer. I've continued to have very serious conversations with him," says Arradondo. "He and others are going to have to come to a reckoning that either they are going to be on the right side of history, or they're going be on the wrong side of history... or they will be left behind," says the chief.

Derek Chauvin, the fired officer who put his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes until Floyd was unresponsive, had at least 17 complaints against him, but received only two letters of reprimand. One of the other three officers with Chauvin at the arrest of Floyd, Tou Thao, had six complaints in his file, was sued for using excessive force and was never disciplined. Arradondo says the contract with the police union allows cops who are fired or disciplined to have their cases heard in arbitration. He has stopped negotiating with the union over its contract. "I as chief am stepping away from that. I'm taking a deliberate pause."

Asked by Stahl if it was true that nearly half of the police who are fired regain their jobs through union arbitration, he responds, "That's correct. If we even have one who is allowed to come back, that sets us back."

Racism is a systemic problem, says Arradondo. The department has made strides - his appointment is one measure, he says - since he and four others sued the Minneapolis Police Department for racial discrimination 13 years ago. Their complaint said that every African American policeman in the predominantly white force had gotten a hate letter in the interoffice mail signed "KKK." The case was settled for $740,000.

The protections offered to cops under the union's contract can prevent him from rooting out bad actors, thwarting his efforts to improve his department. "[The contract] is problematic, absolutely," says Arradondo. "And so I cannot in good faith work with a contract that diminishes my authority as chief but also erodes that public trust that our communities need so much right now."

The community's trust was shattered once again, and Minneapolis erupted in protest after it watched Floyd plead for his life on May 25, another Black man dead because of the actions of a white policeman. Several other police chiefs, including Atlanta's last week, have resigned after their officers killed Black men, sparking similar protests and riots. Did Arradondo consider stepping down? "No. I did not consider stepping down. When George Floyd's death occurred, my minutes and my hours and my days were consumed with really trying to keep this city held together."

Follow 60 MINUTES on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.