Minneapolis Mayor announces de-escalation standards, police use of force reporting requirements

Tuesday at City Hall, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced changes to the Police Department’s use of force and de-escalation reporting requirements.

The new policies places a stronger emphasis on de-escalation and expands the range of force reporting, which means police must describe in print what kind of mitigation they tried, plus a supervisor must be told. The policy also requires documentation of attempts to diffuse all possible situations. Mayor Frey acknowledged these steps have never been must-haves before.

"This change will instill a stronger emphasis on de-escalation and help effectively curb excessive use of force by ensuring our officers center de-escalation in any-and-all interactions between officers and the community," Frey said. "These comprehensive reporting requirements will help reinforce de-escalation as the first resort, increase accountability where de-escalation is an after-thought, and provide improved data to head off problematic interactions before they happen."

"As the MPD continues to professionalize our service and make necessary reforms, these new changes in policy, strengthening de-escalation and Use Of Force reporting will play a key role in our efforts in building trust and legitimacy with all those we serve," Arradondo added.

The city also said the policy will elevate department standards for use of force documentation, reporting and supervisor notification. Officers will have to explain their strategies and attempts to de-escalate while also describing the force used, why that level of force was used and what strategies were used to de-escalate. Documentation will also be required if medical aid was rendered, who it was rendered by, if there was a medical transport, by whom and why.

That documentation will also apply to takedown techniques and deploying chemical agents. If medical aid was rendered or a transport needed, the officers names and reaon why must be on file.

The new policy takes effect Friday.

Officers will begin training on the new policy and other new requirements in the fall.

The new policy can be seen at the links below:

• Use of force update
• Use of force reporting
• Medical treatment reporting