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The Minneapolis City Council and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights reached a settlement agreement addressing race-based policing and public safety on March 31, 2023.
According to news releases from the city and MDHR, the two have been negotiating the court-enforceable Settlement Agreement terms regarding the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) training, policing and budgets since June 2020, following the racial and controversial death of George Floyd.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, due to former officer Derek Chauvin restraining Floyd with a knee to his neck for nine minutes, obstructing his airway.
The settlement agreement, filed in the state’s Fourth Judicial District Court, aimed to build the community’s trust in the police department by enacting non-discriminatory policing and training tactics. It’s also a step toward protecting BIPOC lives from trigger-happy police officers.
“Minneapolis community members deserve to be treated with humanity. This court-enforceable agreement provides the framework for lawful, non-discriminatory policing, reduces unnecessary dangers for officers, and results in better public safety for Minneapolis,” MDHR Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said in a press release. “I am grateful to Mayor Frey, Chief O’Hara, City Council, and City and MPD staff for their commitment to set a path towards a more just future for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in Minneapolis.”
Ben Crump released a statement about the police reform, calling it “the culmination of years of heartbreak and advocacy by those impacted by the poor policies and practices of the Minneapolis Police Department, including George Floyd, Amir Locke and many others.”
Crump concluded with, “It is our fervent hope that the reform agreement will improve the quality of policing, enhance the training and well-being of officers and most importantly, increase trust of law enforcement in the community, particularly among those who have for so long have been marginalized and mistreated.”
The agreement comes a year after the MDHR investigated MPD’s disgusting policing patterns, unveiling that 19% of Minneapolis’ population is Black and 78% of Black individuals were searched or had their vehicles searched during traffic stops by the MPD.
Compared to white citizens, the investigation saw that 8.8% of white individuals were searched or had their vehicles searched by the city’s officers, while the number was double for Blacks.
The terms addressed the police’s use of force, which required officers to have a superior respond to the scene if significant force was used, prohibited officers from sharing information with each other for reports and documentation purposes and specified when force is permitted (severity of the crime, an officer in immediate danger, individual resisting address, a person under the influence or mentally unstable, etc.).
Officers aren’t required to fire at individuals “running away or driving away” from an officer “except to counter an imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person.” Police will receive training for those with a bullet wound caused by the officer.
Minneapolis police are prohibited from conducting traffic stops for expired registration tags or tags that aren’t displayed, concealed license plates, broken taillights, one functional side view mirror, broken windshield wipers and more. Incidents like the ones listed will require notices from the city to be mailed to the vehicle owner.
“This settlement represents a roadmap for greater accountability, transparency, better training and police wellness,” Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins said. “We have begun the work to implement changes in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights’ findings and to restructure our Office of Community Safety and how we respond to public safety issues. We have much more work to do.”