The Minneapolis City Council on Monday approved an agreement with the federal government to overhaul 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’s 12-0 vote, says the department will require its officers to “promote the sanctity of human life as the highest priority in their activities.” “. their policing functions with professionalism and 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, means the department will be 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.
The report alleged that police systematically discriminated against racial minorities, violated constitutional rights and neglected the safety of people in custody for years before Floyd’s killing.
The Justice Department’s report is the result of an extensive two-year investigation that upheld numerous citizen complaints about police conduct. The investigation found that Minneapolis officers used excessive force, including “unjustified deadly force,” and violated the rights of people engaged in constitutionally protected speech.
An independent observer will oversee the changes and a judge must approve them.
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.
The council approved the deal 12-0 Monday in a brief public vote that followed an hours-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 our lives. 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.
“Having a federal consent decree signed and in place is valuable to police reform efforts, but we must be sober that it will take local political will to hold the city and (mayor’s) administration Jacob) Frey responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws. the terms of the consent judgment,” 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.
It 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, is awaiting 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.
If Minneapolis’ federal deal wins court approval, the city would find itself in the unusual position of operating under federal and state consent decrees.
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