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 against a brutal and out-of-control Metro Gang Strike Force, that regularly broke down doors, constitutional rights be damned.  Some of the victims received payouts with the $3 million settlement.

But part of the settlement -- $1.5 million --  was set aside to train police officers how to improve their interactions with communities of color.

More than $200,000 has been spent so far and not a single course has been offered, the 

“We saw this firestorm coming and it needed to be addressed and rectified within police academies a long time ago," Randy Hopper, the attorney who filed the original suit, tells the PiPress.

Much of the money has  gone to two people hired to develop the training. The first person's work had to be redone by the second person because, apparently, police don't have time to physically attend classes.

“Had this training program been implemented in a timely way, the way it should have been, we would have a good five, six years behind us,” Hopper told the paper. “We would have a bright, shining, exemplary model that is more appropriate and sensitive to diverse cultures and populations.”

One of the results of the slow implementation is alleged racial profiling of people of color in traffic stops, according to some of those interviewed in 

NPR reporter Cheryl Corley's story this morning.

"We do share concerns about the information and what it represents,"  St. Anthony City Manager Mark Casey told Corley after data the city released showed disproportionate traffic stops in the city. "Racial inequality, in terms of arrests, citations and incarceration, is a complex yet urgent challenge for all of us."

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NewsCut

Bob Collins

Author

Six years ago, a settlement ended a lawsuit against a brutal and out-of-control Metro Gang Strike Force, that regularly broke down doors, constitutional rights be damned.  Some of the victims received payouts with the $3 million settlement.  But required police training to change relationships with communities of color never happened.

Why change in police relationship with communities of color isn’t happening

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