Judge dismisses Department of Justice lawsuit and consent decree with Minneapolis police
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A federal court judge issued an order Tuesday dismissing the Department of Justice lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and the consent decree reached following an investigation of the city’s police department.
The order was expected after the DOJ filed a motion last week seeking to drop the suit saying that it no longer felt the proposed consent decree was in the public interest.
Minneapolis city leaders say they will continue to institute reforms mandated by the agreement.
“The bottom line is that we are doing it anyway. We will implement every reform in the 169-page consent decree,” said Mayor Jacob Frey in a statement released following the order from U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson. “Minneapolis is making great progress on police reform, and we don’t need permission from Washington or a federal judge to keep pushing forward.”
The consent decree was created after a two-year federal investigation into the police department that found MPD’s culture cultivated “systemic problems” that made possible the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
In the order, Magnuson includes concerns about the agreement.
“Further, the proposed consent decree is superfluous because in July 2023, the City and MPD entered into a similar agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights,” writes Magnuson who later says the $750,000 proposed to pay for the independent monitor, “would better fund hiring police officers to bolster the City’s dwindling police force and promote public safety.”
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