DOJ: Minneapolis Police Had Pattern Of Racist Violent Behavior - Forbes

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Topline

The Department of Justice said Friday that officers of the Minneapolis Police Department have had a pattern of “deeply disturbing” behavior that disproportionately affects minorities and the mentally ill, following a years-long investigation prompted by the murder of George Floyd.

Key Facts

U.S. Attorney General Merick Garland on Friday said a two-year investigation into the MPD found that officers use excessive force when no force is necessary, unlawfully discriminate against Black and Native American people, violate the rights of protestors and mistreat mentally ill people.

An 89-page report describes in detail several specific instances of officers violating civil and constitutional rights, including pepper spraying a reporter, stopping minority residents at a rate six times that of their white counterparts and using deadly force "without first determining whether there was an immediate threat."

The DOJ found police used neck restraints — which killed George Floyd — in 198 encounters from Jan. 1, 2016 to Aug. 16, 2022, most of which were "unreasonable" and have continued despite a department-wide ban on all neck restraints and chokeholds instituted in June of 2020.

The report said that officers routinely failed to render medical aid to people in their custody, in "numerous" cases responding to a person’s statement that they could not breathe with a version of, “You can breathe; you’re talking right now.”

Officers' racist behavior extended to many minority groups, Garland said Friday as he referenced the 2015 stop of a car carrying four Somali-American teens when one officer said he was "proud" to be a racist and added "Do you remember what happened in Black Hawk Down when we killed a bunch of you folk? I’m proud of that… We didn’t finish the job over there... if we had… you guys wouldn’t be over here right now.”

Key Background

The Minneapolis Police Department has been the subject of intense scrutiny after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, killed Floyd in Minneapolis by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes. The murder launched protests across the country, Floyd became a powerful symbol of systemic racial injustice and calls for police reform and defunding were heard nationwide. Investigators have since said that the Minneapolis Police Department disproportionately searched, criminally cited and used force against the city’s Black residents. Garland said the DOJ’s investigation found Derek Chauvin used excessive force in the past while “multiple other MPD officers stood by.” The city agreed last month to reform the city's police department after reaching a settlement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Reforms include a requirement for officers to intervene if they see another officer breaking the law, new guidelines for the use of body-worn and dashboard cameras and restrictions on traffic stops and searches.

What To Watch For

More sanctions. The Minneapolis Police Department has agreed to negotiate a consent decree, essentially a court order mandating broad police reform, and will operate under the order until it meets specific guidelines outlined by the DOJ. The MPD has agreed to 28 remedial measures that Garland says will ensure constitutional and fair community policing.

Crucial Quote

“A father told us MPD did not call to tell him an MPD officer had killed his adult child; instead, he learned his child had died when the coroner called to ask for their dental records,” the DOJ report says.

Big Number

585. That's how many police officers the Minneapolis department had on its payroll early this month, down from the 912 it employed in early 2019 and well below the minimum of 731 officers set by the city’s charter, the New York Times reported.

Tangent

There are more than a dozen law enforcement agencies currently under consent decrees, the Department of Justice says, including departments in Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland and Springfield, Massachusetts. The Chicago decree came after the DOJ determined a pattern of dangerous behavior specifically impacting African American and Latino communities, and Baltimore Police entered into its agreement after a federal report that found racially-biased excessive use of force.