Minneapolis City Council to review findings of state’s investigation into city’s police department
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Tuesday, the Minneapolis City Council’s Committee of the Whole will hear a presentation of an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) into the city’s police department.
The findings of the department’s investigation were released earlier this year; the department reported finding probable cause the city and the department have a pattern or practice of racial discrimination.
The council is expected to meet at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to go over what was found in the 72-page long report, which details a decade of alleged discrimination by the Minneapolis Police Department.
MDHR first launched the investigation days after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Back row, from left: Jason Chavez (Ward 9), LaTrisha Vetaw (Ward 4), Elliott Payne (Ward 1), Andrew Johnson (Ward 12), Michael Rainville (Ward 3), Jamal Osman (Ward 6), Emily Koski (Ward 11) Front row, from left: Robin Wonsley Worlobah (Ward 2), Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10), Linea Palmisano (Ward 13), Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8), Lisa Goodman (Ward 7), Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5)[Minneapolis City Clerk]
Investigators reviewed more than 700 hours of body camera footage, more than half a million city and department documents and went on ride-alongs in every police precinct.
The report found Minneapolis police officers not only used force against Black people at high rates, but that the force was more severe, and even deadly.
MDHR Commissioner Rebecca Lucero says this isn’t about one person within the department, but a pattern of discrimination as a whole.
“It took a lot of people to get to this place over a long period of time,” Lucero said. “It’s going to take a lot of work by a lot of people to get out of this. So, it’s not about one person that we’re going to need to get out of this.”
The report was released in April, and in May, the city attorney’s office sent a letter to MDHR asking to see the evidence used in the report.
So far, the state has not turned that over.
City council members will start going over the entire report during Tuesday’s meeting, but aren’t expected to take any kind of action.
However, they will get a chance to ask questions about the report.