Monitor says MPD making progress in complying with state agreement; challenges remain
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The independent evaluator monitoring the city of Minneapolis’ agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights says the city’s police department is making progress in meeting the terms of the court-enforced pact.
The report also identifies challenges for the department as the end of the first year of the evaluation process approaches.
The report by Effective Law Enforcement for All (ELEFA) covers the first six months of the evaluation period, from March through September 2024. It highlights several areas of improvement, including progress toward revising the Minneapolis Police Department’s policy manual — a 700-page file — to make it easier for officers and the public to navigate.
“MPD reports that it is working with IT to implement a new policy management system expected to reduce the burden on officers (and the public) in navigating MPD policies,” reads the report. “The IE (Independent Evaluator) Team expects progress will be made on this effort, which will be reported on during the next Review Period.”
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However, the department’s efforts to investigate use-of-force incidents are moving slowly. The report says MPD’s Force Investigation Team “lacked sufficient staffing to complete some of the major tasks the Agreement requires.” And the report says the team will need more staffing in order to clear a backlog of more than 1,100 cases by March 17.
Chief Brian O’Hara says the backlogged cases also include routine Internal Affairs complaints. He says the department has taken a number of steps to help clear those cases including paying overtime to investigators.
“I can’t say with certainty that the backlog will be cleared by the deadline, which is March 17, but I feel very, very confident that if not cleared, we will have made substantial progress,” said O’Hara.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights investigated the police department following the murder of George Floyd. It found that police routinely violated residents’ civil rights, and that they arrested and used force against Black and Native American people more often than white residents during similar circumstances.
The city also reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year. That’s awaiting approval by a judge.
Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette didn’t provide an estimate for when the court will sign off on the agreement.
“We cannot predict the outcome of the federal proceedings, but we are committed to doing this work right for our residents,” he said. “Again, the most important thing, regardless of what happens at the federal level, we have a state consent decree.”
Correction (Feb. 3, 2025): A previous version of this story had the incorrect date for when the backlog of use of force investigations need to be cleared. The above story has been updated.
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