Minneapolis police contract is just one of many vehicles for reform, and this is not the end of that effort

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After spending the past four years studying and advocating for public safety reforms, we recommend that the Minneapolis City Council approve the Minneapolis police contract at its meeting Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

The Minneapolis public safety landscape is complex and is impacted by the state (the Legislature, the Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, the Departments of Human Rights and Public Safety, and the attorney general); the county (social services, the county attorney and co-responders), and city government (the Department of Civil Rights, the Office of Public Safety, the police contract and the Charter Commission).

The police contract is just one of many vehicles for reform, and this contract contains significant reform wins for people who live in or visit Minneapolis.

It will prevent a “Chauvin-type” officer from remaining on the force by allowing the Police Department to retain copies of investigative files in personnel records, even if discipline is not imposed. It would eliminate automatic release of the identity of members of the public who ask to see public police records. And, most significantly, the city still has a discipline matrix as a policy as of Jan. 31, 2023, that is outside the contract and therefore not subject to either negotiation or risk of grievance by the police union, and which states that “[a]ll disciplinary decisions for violations occurring after the issuance of this matrix will not rely on past standards but on standards described herein.”

The contract addresses the crisis in Minneapolis policing due to the low numbers of officers, which has led to significant delays in investigations and burnout among officers due to overtime. It does this by granting the police chief the ability to hire civilian investigators and raising officer pay to make the city competitive in recruiting and retaining officers. It enhances management flexibility by allowing the police chief to temporarily reassign staff where needed and use his discretion to staff employees in any ratio he sees fit to meet departmental needs.

Is this the end of reform? Of course not! And we intend to stay vigilant as the city administration implements reforms that have been agreed to in the MDHR Court Approved Settlement Agreement and the anticipated Department of Justice Consent Decree, as well as following the upcoming negotiations for the next police contract.

But this current contract is a good contract and a big step forward in making Minneapolis safer for the people who live in and visit our city.

Catherine Shreves and John Satorius are co-chairs of the Plymouth Congregational Church Reimagining Community Safety Group. Rebecca Thoman is president and Jane Lansing is chair of the Reimagining Public Safety Committee of the League of Women Voters of Minneapolis.