The city of Minneapolis is spending at least $16 million to comply with court-ordered police reforms in 2024-2025.

Multiple departments are revising policies and hiring more staff to meet state and federal requirements.

“We anticipate the workload will increase with the updated policies and procedures,” Vicki Troswick, Minneapolis Police Department finance, said in a Monday Budget Committee meeting.

Between the consent decree with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the settlement agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, the city has to budget millions of dollars to cover costs that fulfill state and federal requirements.

Council members got an overview of the mayor’s budget recommendations at Monday’s budget committee meeting.

The plan is to dedicate $883,999 to expand MPD’s implementation team.

“I think we’re taking a responsible approach to building this team out. We started with two people, and they’re more than busy. Next year, we’ll add two more,” Travis Glampe, MPD deputy chief of constitutional policing, said.

The new hires will do everything from analyze and restructure public safety data, train officers and
dig through body camera footage.

There’s also a recommendation for the IT department to receive $424,996 to hire three more staff members.

“It will help address those weaknesses and move the city to a more resilient, future-ready architecture,” Paul Cameron, information technology chief information officer, said.

In May, 5 INVESTIGATES dug into the cost of companies monitoring consent decrees and settlement agreements.

They found cities across the country spent anywhere from $9 to $12 million on monitoring fees.

Contract documents show the city of Minneapolis capped that budget at $1.5 million per year.