The city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department have engaged in a pattern or practice of racial discrimination for more than a decade in violation of the Human Rights Act, Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) said in a report on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2022) The city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department have engaged in a pattern or practice of racial discrimination for more than a decade in violation of the Human Rights Act, Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) said in a report on Wednesday.
"Following the murder of George Floyd, demands to end discriminatory policing practices reverberated across the world. Those demands remain just as urgent today with the announcement of the investigative findings which paints an unsettling picture of the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department engaging in a pattern of racial discrimination over the last decade," MDHR Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said in the report.
MDHR said it had reviewed about 700 hours of camera footage recorded by officers' cameras and scoured nearly 480,000 pages of city and MPD documents, including training materials, policies and procedures, officers' disciplinary records, policy development materials, reports and assessments, internal and external communication and correspondence, documents reflecting interagency agreements and public messaging documents.
MDHR also said it watched 87 hours of MPD's 2021 academy training for new officers and accompanied officers on ride-alongs in each of the department's five precincts. In addition, MDHR analyzed data on all recorded use of force incidents across the five precincts from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2020.
Lastly, MDHR commissioners and staff analyzed MPD and city data on traffic stops and prosecutions, including searches, arrests and citations stemming from those stops for a period covering January 1, 2017 to May 24, 2020.
The MDHR said it found that African Americans, people of color and Indigenous individuals were victims of excessive and violent force by police officers, which in some cases used deadly force. Statistics show that of the 14 people killed by MPD officers since 2010, 13 were people of color or Indigenous individuals. People of color and Indigenous individuals make up about 42 percent of Minneapolis' population, but encompass 93 percent of all officer-involved deaths between January 1, 2010 and February 2, 2022.
"As described in detail throughout these findings, MPD maintains an organizational culture where officers are trained to be aggressive towards community members, which leads to officers escalating situations and often using inappropriate levels of force," the report said. "The accountability systems in place are insufficient and ineffective at holding officers accountable. Instances of police misconduct are not properly investigated, not timely addressed, and officers are not held consistently accountable."
MDHR also said Minneapolis city officials and police brass have been aware of the disparate treatment and race-based policing on non-white residents and Indigenous individuals, but they "have not collectively acted with the urgency, coordination, and intention necessary to address racial disparities to improve public safety."
MDHR added that it will begin meeting and working with Minneapolis officials next week to construct a consent decree to deal with discriminatory, race-based policing.
