Moving forward with MPD consent decrees

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Minneapolis is expected to soon be the nation’s only city operating under both state and federal police consent decrees simultaneously.

But what will it take for the agreements to be meaningful and truly live up to the requirements they contain?

Certainly, strong leadership, commitment and follow-through must be part of successfully making over the Minneapolis Police Department. And the community must hold the city’s feet to the fire on the legally binding promises made.

Extensive investigations conducted by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found that the city’s Police Department had engaged in patterns of racial discrimination and mistreated people experiencing mental health crises among other violations of constitutional rights.

Minneapolis leaders signed on to the state agreement in mid-2023 and to the federal one this week. The DOJ pact will become official once a local judge signs it. The 170-page agreement calls for a long list of needed actions including prohibiting police from initiating a foot pursuit simply because a person flees upon seeing an officer, and from handcuffing a child younger than 14 years old.

MPD has had a long history of poor community relations and racially biased treatment of citizens. Yet it took the murder of George Floyd at the hands of an MPD officer in 2020 to lead to the investigations and ultimately the legally enforceable consent decrees. Similar patterns of fatal abuse have played out in several other U.S. cities in recent years. Police-involved deaths of people of color have sparked protests, government investigations and federal intervention.

Both Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara say they are “1000% committed” to the agreements. They point out that even before this week’s negotiations with the feds were finalized, the city had either completed or started on the necessary changes.

Frey said much of the work has already commenced, such as creating an Office of Community Safety, expanding the department’s mental health response capacity and changing use-of-force and disciplinary policies. He said it is a “good agreement … at the same time, I want to be honest: … It is not a panacea. There aren’t any shortcuts, and success is not guaranteed.”

Some background: Congress authorized the DOJ to conduct civil investigations into constitutional abuses by law enforcement in 1994, following the beating of Rodney King, a Black man, by white Los Angeles police officers. Consent decrees are court-approved settlements that usually legally bind law enforcement agencies to make systemic reforms and often call for monitoring by an outside independent group. Both the state and federal consent decree agreements covering MPD call for the same group — Effective Law Enforcement for All — to monitor the city’s progress.

In announcing the agreement this week Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the DOJ, said that when the document is approved by the judge, Minneapolis will constitute the 16th policing pattern or consent decree that the U.S. Department of Justice is currently enforcing. Of the 12 investigations launched during the administration of President Joe Biden, the DOJ has completed four: Minneapolis, Louisville, Ky., Phoenix and Lexington, Miss.

Critics of the city and MPD such as Community United Against Police Brutality praised many provisions in the agreement, but said that other needed changes didn’t make the list or didn’t go far enough. The group is scheduled to hold a community meeting on the agreement next week.

City leaders must continue listening to community groups and neighborhood concerns as reforms are implemented.

Chief O’Hara, who was hired in part because of his participation in a consent decree at his previous job in Newark, N.J., said the agreement is important but that going above and beyond it is essential. He said he’s requiring officers to improve the way they interact with the community.

This week, for example, he held a meeting to introduce community members to a group of 32 new interns, community service officers and cadet recruits. That group as well as new officers slated to come on board this year were recruited in part for their interest in police reforms and their individual diversity. The concept of diversity has been expanded to include not only immigrants but recruits with degrees in various disciplines.

Now with the agreements, the city must strengthen reforms that have been made and are underway, implement new ones and double down on rebuilding trust and confidence in MPD. Ultimately, the community must hold the city accountable and understand and embrace the new tools that have been created to advance needed progress.