Minneapolis Review

“This is a dark day for our city. Nearly three years after we—and the world—watched in horror for 8 minutes and 46 seconds as George Floyd was murdered, we now have overwhelming evidence from the nation’s Department of Justice that ‘the MPD and the City engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution and federal law,’ including excessive force, unlawful discrimination against black and Native American people, first amendment violations, violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, lack of supervision and accountability and much more.

“These findings are shocking, but sadly, not surprising. The report details a Department whose accountability structures are ‘fundamentally flawed,’ where MPD and civilian leadership take no action to address blatant violations of their own policies. What’s worse, the report finds that many of the violations—such as the widespread failure to report race and gender in stops—increasedafter George Floyd’s murder in 2020. This comes on the heels of another report by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights last year finding systemic ‘discriminatory, race-based policing.’

“As a Black woman living in Minneapolis, I have experienced some of these violations firsthand.

“For years, we have been offered a false choice between public safety and accountability. We have been told that bending to the will of the police union and the MPD is the only way to reduce crime. But rampant abuse and racism, constitutional violations, and killing of unarmed Black people does not make our community any safer. Lack of accountability only undermines relations with the community they are designed to protect, and poisons the civic trust that is the lifeblood of a democracy and its institutions.

“I welcome this accountability from the Justice Department and support the consent decree being negotiated between the city and the federal government.

“We must demand a public safety system built on data and trust, not fear and racism. We must recognize that we cannot prosecute and incarcerate our way to sustainable public safety, that building that trust requires that we address the system that allows racial discrimination—from the disproportionate arrest and incarceration rates Black and brown people face, to the marijuana laws that criminalize Black and brown people. We need to act at the federal level, including by passing my Amir Locke End Deadly No Knock Warrants Act, my package of bills making police violence against protesters a federal crime (among other provisions), and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. And most of all, we must build a police force that is well-trained, held accountable by its leadership, and follows the highest standards of ethics and conduct.”

Original source can be found here.