Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced Monday a new discipline grid for the city's Police Department he says will make it "incredibly clear" how officers will be punished if they break policy.
Mayor Frey announces new discipline grid for Minneapolis officers who break the rules
The updated discipline matrix includes a new category for infractions that will result in automatic termination.
June 13, 2022 at 9:20PM
The updated discipline matrix creates a new category for "E-level" violations, which will result in automatic termination. These include officers violating the city's anti-discrimination policy, using biased language, making false statements, recklessly using firearms, using unnecessary force, failing to report force and maliciously searching or arresting someone.
The matrix similarly lists penalties for lower violations, all the way down to "A-level," which will lead to "non-disciplinary corrective action," such as coaching or mentoring. A-level infractions include uniform violations, failure to appear in court for the first time and others that amount to "an isolated incident" that "may have a minimal negative impact on operations or professional image of the Minneapolis Police Department."
Committing a B-level infraction, such as skipping a training course or using "minor coarse, profane, discourteous, or insolent language," could lead to a letter of reprimand and 10 to 40 hours of suspension. Improperly handling evidence or personal property taken from a person who is in custody amounts to a C-level violation, punishable by 40 to 160 hours of suspension. An officer showing up to work intoxicated — a D-level violation — could mean a demotion and 160 to 300 hours of suspension.
Issues with the Police Department's disciplinary process have dogged the city for years. In its recent investigation of Minneapolis police, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights found "MPD fails to consistently hold officers accountable for police misconduct, either through coaching or formal discipline," allowing problem behavior to go unchecked.
The city has dealt with most sustained complaints against officers through coaching, a secretive process that critics say amounts to a legal loophole to keep allegations against officers out of the public eye.
In a news conference alongside interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman on Monday, Frey said the new model will bring more clarity to officers and the public, and ensure the city lives up to its promise to "hold officers accountable who need to be held accountable." His administration last updated the discipline matrix in 2018, but that version "basically looks like the 'Da Vinci Code' or something you've got to crack," Frey said.
Frey said the new grid also takes more consideration of the harm or risk of harm a police officer's infraction causes to the safety of a community member, officer, the public or community trust and to the professional reputation of the department and its relationships.
Huffman crafted the new matrix with input from Minneapolis police and the union "using research and similar matrices from several other police agencies," according to a news release from Frey's office.
Frey and a majority of City Council members campaigned on promises to improve accountability for police, and they faced criticism from activists for not adding more to the police contract negotiated this year to address perceived weaknesses in the disciplinary system.
At the time, Frey said he feared relying on the contract to reform the process could lead to unintended consequences.
"There is a misperception that having more disciplinary language in the contract is better," the mayor said in March. "We are better able to dictate disciplinary actions when the chief and their administration have the authority to do so unilaterally."
In a statement issued late Monday, the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis said that the union "understands the need for accountability and transparency, our hope is the new consideration of community impact in disciplinary decisions can lead to a process that remains objective and adherent to the facts of the case."
The new matrix went into effect June 1.
Staff reporter Liz Navratil contributed to this report.
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