Minneapolis agrees to review police training, policies after Floyd killing: NPR

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council on Monday approved an agreement with the federal government to overhaul the city’s police training and use of force policies in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

The agreement incorporates and builds on changes made by the Minneapolis Police Department since Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white officer in 2020, sparking a national reckoning over police brutality and racism.

The 171-page agreement, filed in federal court shortly after the board voted 12-0 to approve it, says the department will require its officers to “promote the sanctity of human life as highest priority in their activities. It says officers must “carry out their law enforcement duties professionally and with respect for the dignity of each person.” And it states that they must not allow race, gender or ethnicity “to influence any decision to use force, including the amount or type of force used.”

The agreement, known as a consent decree, will place the department under long-term court supervision. It had been in negotiations since the Justice Department issued a scathing critique of the city’s police in June 2023.

Department officials alleged that police engaged in systematic racial discrimination, violated constitutional rights and neglected the safety of people in custody for years before Floyd’s death. This report is the result of an extensive two-year investigation that upheld numerous citizen complaints regarding police conduct. It found that Minneapolis officers used excessive force, including “unjustified deadly force,” and violated the rights of people engaged in constitutionally protected speech.

“The death of George Floyd was not only a tragedy, it was a galvanizing force for the city and for the nation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division , during a press conference. “All eyes remain on Minneapolis, and with this consent decree, we now have a roadmap for reform that will help this community heal while building trust between law enforcement and the people they serve. ‘they serve.’

An independent observer will oversee the changes and a judge must approve them. A hearing has not yet been scheduled, but officials hope approval will come quickly.

During his first administration, President-elect Donald Trump criticized consent decrees, calling them anti-police. Finalizing the Minneapolis deal before he returns to office on Jan. 20 would make it harder for him to compromise the deal because changes would require court approval. Clarke declined to predict how vigorously the new administration will or will not attempt to enforce the consent decree.

The council’s brief public vote followed an hour-long closed-door discussion.

“I would like to thank our community for standing together, united in this process, and for being patient with us as we have traveled a very, very long and difficult journey,” said Council President, Elliott Payne, after the vote. “We are just getting started and we know we have a long way to go. Our success will only be realized when we all work together on what is arguably one of the most important issues in the life of our city. “

Council member Robin Wonsley said in a statement before the vote that she had “no confidence that the Trump administration will be a serious partner” in implementing the deal.

“Signing and implementing a federal consent decree is valuable to police reform efforts, but we must be sober that it will take local political will to hold the city and administration (Mayor Jacob) Frey responsible for implementing and enforcing the terms of the consent decree,” she said.

In 2023, a state court judge approved a similar agreement between Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights after the state agency released its own scathing report in 2022. The investigation State investigation found that the city’s police had engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination for at least a decade.

The Justice Department has opened 12 similar investigations of state and local law enforcement since April 2021, most in response to high-profile deaths at the hands of police. Assuming court approval, Clarke said, the department will enforce 16 policing “models and practices” regulations across the country. She said 30 years of experience shows they lead to “significant, tangible progress toward better, safer and more lawful policing.”

The department has agreements with Seattle, New Orleans, Baltimore, Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri. A consent decree with Louisville, Kentucky, after an investigation sparked by the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, awaits court approval. In Memphis, Tennessee, the mayor last month rebuffed pressure for a consent decree, saying his city had made hundreds of positive changes since Tire Nichols’ death.

Consent decrees require law enforcement to meet specific goals before federal oversight is removed, a process that often takes years and millions of dollars. One of the main reasons Minneapolis hired Brian O’Hara as police chief in 2022 was his experience implementing a consent decree in Newark, New Jersey.

O’Hara noted that the city would be the first in the country to operate under federal and state consent decrees. He said they showed Newark that consent decrees can lead to meaningful change.

“We will not just comply with his terms, but we will exceed expectations and we will make change real for the people on the streets,” the chief said. “Together we will make Minneapolis a place where everyone feels safer, and they know the cops in Minneapolis will have their back.”

The mayor told reporters that officers would rise to the occasion.

“I trust the members of this department to show up every day and commit to embodying the change reflected in this agreement,” Frey said. “You have the ability, you have the obligation and you have the responsibility to set the tone. Show the rest of the country, in fact, the rest of the world, what good constitutional policing looks like.”