MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Minneapolis City Council has voted unanimously to enter an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to reform the city's police department.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The consent decree is intended to address decades of discriminatory policing. Nearly five years ago, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, which sparked protests around the country and around the world.
MARTIN: Minnesota Public Radio's Estelle Timar-Wilcox is with us now to talk about the agreement and what it proposes to do. Good morning, Estelle.
ESTELLE TIMAR-WILCOX, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So the Justice Department began its scrutiny of the Minneapolis Police Department just after George Floyd was killed. What did they find that led to this consent decree?
TIMAR-WILCOX: Well, they found a pattern of racial discrimination and excessive use of force, particularly against Black and Native American people. They also noted inappropriate responses when people were experiencing a behavioral health crisis. City officials have been in talks with the Department of Justice since then to try to reach this consent agreement. And the state, at the same time, reached a separate settlement with the city about a year ago, also mandating several reforms, which the department is now working towards.
MARTIN: Yeah. The mayor, Jacob Frey, said the agreement set a clear path forward for police in the community. What's in it?
TIMAR-WILCOX: Well, the department will have to draft a new use of force policy. It bans chokeholds and neck restraints and limits the use of pepper spray. One of the big concerns centered around investigations into a complaint against an officer - those will now continue, even if an officer quits or retires. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke called the settlement a critical step for constitutional policing.
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KRISTEN CLARKE: George Floyd's death was not just a tragedy. It was a galvanizing force for this city and for the nation. All eyes remain on Minneapolis. And with this consent decree, we now have a roadmap for reform that will help this community heal while strengthening trust between law enforcement and the people they serve.
MARTIN: You know, I want to mention here that this agreement is the 16th policing settlement that the Justice Department is currently enforcing. That's according to the assistant attorney general, Kristen Clarke. Do these agreements work?
TIMAR-WILCOX: Well, Clarke says they do. And she noted success stories in other cities that have consent decrees, like Seattle, which she said drastically reduced the use of force, and New Orleans, which reached its lowest rate of critical incidents in 2023. And here in Minneapolis, lots of police accountability activists were actually pushing for a consent decree. Michelle Gross was one of them.
MICHELLE GROSS: We have to have this agreement. Even if it isn't ideal, even if it isn't perfect, we need this agreement to go forward.
TIMAR-WILCOX: Even so, activists say it's not an end-all solution to police brutality.
MARTIN: And the city council, as you were noting, voted unanimously to enact this consent decree. And what happens now?
TIMAR-WILCOX: Well, once a federal judge signs it, it'll go into effect. And advocates are hoping that will happen before Donald Trump's inauguration, because Trump's last administration opposed using consent decrees. Once it's enacted, a federal judge and an independent monitor will oversee progress on it, and it'll stay in effect until the federal courts decide that all the conditions have been met, which could be years from now.
MARTIN: That is Minnesota Public Radio's Estelle Timar-Wilcox. Estelle, thank you so much for joining us.
TIMAR-WILCOX: You're welcome.
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