Finalists vying to oversee Minneapolis' consent decrees tout experience, diverse teams

The three out-of-state groups vying to oversee the implementation of Minneapolis' state and federal consent decrees on policing each tout diverse leadership teams with extensive experience auditing law enforcement agencies.

Two of the three finalists have monitored other cities' court-ordered policing reform efforts after intervention by the U.S. Department of Justice. Another waged successful racial discrimination lawsuits against large corporations and local municipalities whose practices targeted minority residents, according to a Star Tribune analysis of the written proposals.

Each team vowed to create accountability, transparency and public trust if chosen as the city's independent evaluator — often referred to as a monitor. Their services are expected to cost an estimated $1.5 million a year, which is a budget cap written into Minneapolis' request for proposals from the groups.

City officials posted the 30-page applications online Dec. 21, more than a week after the three groups were named as finalists. Each one included an executive summary, methodology, personnel listing with experience history, references and a projected budget.

City Council President Andrea Jenkins, one of more than a dozen public officials who sat in on hybrid interviews with the finalists in late November, emphasized the value of selecting a team that exhibits integrity, honesty and a robust community outreach plan.

"There has to be some pretty strong awareness of constitutionally sound law enforcement practices," she said. "A key factor for me is an evaluator who is working toward significant cultural and organizational change — not just checking a box."

Minneapolis is thought to be the first American city subject to simultaneous court-ordered reforms by separate jurisdictions.

After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, both the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice investigated the Minneapolis Police Department's patterns and practices, found extensive violations of state and federal civil rights and prescribed sweeping reforms that will take the city years to achieve.

Minneapolis entered into a court-approved settlement agreement, laying out a timetable of reforms, with the state in July. It has not yet reached a formal agreement with the feds.

One court-appointed monitor will oversee both consent decrees, evaluate MPD's compliance, report the city's progress to the public and mediate disputes. The role of the evaluator is crucial because only when the court agrees that the reforms have been fully enacted will the consent decrees be lifted. Some cities have remained under federal oversight for decades.

The finalists are:

Effective Law Enforcement for All: Born out of lessons gleaned from working as the deputy monitor for the city of New Orleans, David L. Douglass launched this nonprofit with a multi-disciplinary team of retired police chiefs, civil rights attorneys, data analysts and racial equity researchers to help "reinvent law enforcement" in the communities they serve.

The group has partnered with police departments in Orlando, Fla., and Montgomery County, Md., to conduct voluntary audits and issue recommendations for how to reshape organizational culture and reduce use-of-force incidents.

Their team in Minneapolis would be co-led by Michael Harrison, a former Baltimore police commissioner who previously served as superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department — the only chief in the nation with experience overseeing two departments under federal consent decrees, according to the proposal.

"In short, we have walked this path before," their application says, noting that they have the "credibility to garner MPD's trust." Harrison would serve as their primary contact with the Police Department.

Jensen Hughes: A global law enforcement consulting firm with a breadth of experience auditing local police departments and overseeing compliance of court-ordered reforms. Two of their team members currently serve as monitors in Bakersfield, Ca., and the U.S Virgin Islands.

Jensen Hughes has worked on at least three consent decrees, including in San Francisco, where they provided implementation guidance and technical support as the police enacted nearly 250 recommendations over a four-year period.

The firm has an established relationship with the city of Minneapolis, which hired Hillard Heintze — a Maryland-based risk management consultant acquired by Jensen Hughes in 2019 — to assess its response to the civil unrest in the days immediately following Floyd's murder. That 86-page report detailed a critical breakdown in communications and emergency planning by city leaders that left residents feeling abandoned in May 2020. It presented specific recommendations to change how MPD deals with crowd control and lawful protests.

In 2021, Hillard Heintze also conducted a sweeping assessment of the Louisville Metro Police Department amid the fallout from Breonna Taylor's death during a no-knock raid.

Relman Colfax: A Washington, D.C.-based civil rights law firm whose cases deal with discrimination in education, housing and lending. It has conducted civil rights audits of major companies like Facebook, and fought legal battles on behalf of marginalized communities, including a group of Flint, Mich., residents subjected to contaminated drinking water, that resulted in court-enforced settlement agreements.

Civil rights attorney Reed Colfax would lead their team in Minneapolis, alongside two retired police chiefs and a former Department of Justice official. Mike Davis, who spent 16 years with Minneapolis police and later served as chief of the Brooklyn Park Police Department, would act as deputy evaluator and become the main liaison with MPD.

Scott Thomson, a former chief in Camden, NJ, who has consulted on several consent decrees, is listed as a senior adviser tasked with providing technical assistance to MPD leadership on cultural change. Christy Lopez, director of the Center for Innovations in Community Safety at Georgetown Law, would also assist with community engagement efforts. As a former federal litigator, Lopez led pattern-or-practice investigations of numerous law enforcement agencies across the county and later acted as co-monitor of the Oakland Police Department.

Residents have a chance to hear from the finalists directly at two public forums later this month, where representatives from each group will present a rundown of their teams, how they'll monitor the Police Department's compliance and approve trainings and policies.

The forums are scheduled for:

Jan. 9 at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, (Cowles Auditorium), 301 19th Av. S., from 6-8 p.m.

Jan. 10 at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1919 LaSalle Av., from 6-8 p.m.

Afterward, one team will be chosen for the job. Their contract is subject to approval by the Minneapolis City Council, with an anticipated start date of March 9, 2024.