Minneapolis agrees with Department of Human Rights on reining in its police force

By H. Jiahong Pan 

The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to ratify a court-enforceable agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (DHR) to rein in the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).

The agreement, which will address community engagement, use of force and pretextual stops, comes after a two-year-long investigation by the DHR over the MPD’s patterns of racist and misogynistic policing and lack of effective accountability mechanisms. The investigation was initiated days after George Floyd was murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. 

The City continues to await the findings of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is conducting its own investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department’s patterns of practice. Once the city reaches a consent decree with the DOJ, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights will modify the court-enforceable agreement so that it does not conflict with the consent decree.

The Department of Human Rights engaged community members and police officers in a series of meetings last year, to understand what should be part of the agreement. This agreement, which originated with calls for humane treatment of residents and clarity from its police officers, is different from past policies and procedures because it forces the city to make the changes. “The City cannot walk away from this agreement. It is only the court that can and will end this agreement after the City reaches full, effective and sustained compliance with the terms of this agreement,” said Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero. 

The agreement, which differs from a consent decree, includes developing a training curriculum for officers who want to be field trainers within 30 days. “The field training officer position was a part-time role that relied on volunteers and self-selection. And that led to inconsistent training,” said Minneapolis City Council Vice President Linea Palmisano. 

It will also require the department to develop clear policies and procedures to make discretionary choices and searches. Officers and the public will have 45 days to comment on those policies and Minneapolis police officers will have to engage the community in multiple languages and at places and times convenient for both parties. The only exception is if the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) board requires that changes be made. The Minneapolis Police Department will evaluate the policies annually. 

The agreement also bans pretextual stops, as well as discrimination based on race, gender or other protected classes. Officers will be required to tell individuals they stop why they are being stopped, and provide their business card upon request, or if a stop does not result in an arrest or citation. They will also need to activate their body camera, document why the stop happened, and provide the case number to the person they stopped upon request. The agreement does not ban stops where there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The MPD will also be required to develop training on how officers should take a trauma-informed approach to interacting with minors within six months. Minneapolis police officers will also have to offer access to mental and behavioral health and substance abuse services. 

The agreement will also require the City to create a panel composed solely of the police chief, command staff, and police officers responsible for making policy changes within six months of when the agreement goes into effect, to review use of force, stops, searches and arrests to determine if it influences a policy change. The agreement goes into effect once the court approves it.

It will also limit use of force to what is reasonable, necessary and proportional based on what the officers are facing, and require them to use de-escalation tactics. They will also be required to produce a report on use of force and promptly obtain medical treatment for those injured. They will not be able to direct paramedics to sedate those under their care with any medication, including ketamine, if they suspect the person being arrested is experiencing excited delirium. 

The agreement also stipulates that officers cannot use chemical agents or crowd-control weapons to influence or disperse a crowd unless approved by the MPD chief, or unless officers and other people are facing imminent threat. In such cases, chemical agents and crowd-control weapons can only be used on the person initiating the threat. For chemical agents, officers must provide ample warning to individuals before dispersing the agent. Even then, they can only use enough of the chemical agent to make contact with individuals and evaluate if they need to disperse more. Officers will not be able to use chemical agents on anyone who is handcuffed or restrained. 

The MPD will also be required to create a searchable database of disciplinary action for all officers rendered on and after June 8, 2020, within 90 days. They will also be required to create a website where people can report officer misconduct. 

Additional requirements include:

• Requiring off-duty officers to abide by on-duty guidelines while picking up side work
• Require officers to identify themselves
• Ban excited delirium training
• Officers can no longer be coached or verbally notified, without documentation of their misconduct being included in their record 
• Prohibit retaliation 
• Implement early intervention system

It will also require the City to hire an independent evaluation firm that will ensure Minneapolis complies with the consent decree within 120 days of the effective date of the agreement. The evaluator will provide progress reports twice a year, allow the public to provide feedback on it, and survey the public annually on how satisfied they are with the policy changes. They will also maintain a website that has their budget, evaluation plan, court filings by the City and DHR, and schedules of upcoming meetings. The City will also create a unit to liaise between the mayor and the independent evaluator, to implement the agreement within 60 days of when it takes effect. 

At a press conference hosted by the City on Friday morning, MPD Chief Brian O’Hara welcomed the agreement. “This agreement will ensure that Minneapolis police will have the policies, training, support and resources that they need to deliver the highest quality of policing services that our residents deserve,” said O’Hara. In response to a question that existing policy requires what the court-enforceable agreement asks for, O’Hara said, “You have a mandate to make certain investments that cities just do not make, because this is a very expensive process. It’s very manpower intensive. And ultimately, you have to prove to near perfection to an independent evaluator and independent monitor that your cops are actually carrying this out,” says O’Hara.

Even with the changes outlined in the agreement, the city says they have already implemented what has been stipulated. O’Hara says it’s promising, even though they remain over 150 officers short, they have seen an increase in applications to the agency and are speaking with some officers who want to return. The chief also says the city is safer than it was a year ago. 

The agreement does not address DHR findings that Minneapolis police officers targeted activists of color without a public safety objective, which the City disagreed with. Instead, the City continues to require police officers to justify the reasons for their actions. These accounts will be subject to examination by a review panel. 

The agreement also allows the City to avoid admitting any wrongdoing. “We don’t have to admit to all findings … because we want to resolve legal claims,” said City Attorney Kristyn Anderson.

The Department of Human Rights filed another lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court with the updated agreement to get court approval. The court will then decide how to move forward. 

The city is not sure how much it will cost to implement the agreement. However, they anticipate having to invest heavily in information technology and early intervention systems. Mayor Frey’s budget has set-aside $2 million for investments this year and proposes $3 million for next year. “I am not confident that will be enough,” said Frey.

Meanwhile, the DHR will implement the court-enforceable agreement using resources they get from their annual request to the governor and lieutenant governor. This year, they are requesting $1.7 million over the next two years, which would allow them to hire two more full-time equivalent staff. 

The agreement will be implemented in the MPD by first training police captains, who will then train the rank-and-file officers. O’Hara cautions that change won’t happen overnight. “Next week does not look much different than today,” said O’Hara. “This is not something that the city has gotten into overnight, and we’re not going to get out of this completely overnight.”