Department of Justice Releases Findings of Minneapolis Police Department Review

The Justice Department is expected to release the results of an investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department on Friday, according to two people familiar with the planning, to conclude a multi-year investigation of the long-troubled agency, whose abuses drew global attention when an officer George killed Floyd in 2020.

The report is expected to be released at a press conference with Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta and city officials. The contents of the report are not yet known, but people familiar with the investigation said the investigation revealed significant systemic issues and could lead to an agreement between the parties, known as a consent decree, overseen by a federal right.

The anticipated announcement was previously reported by Bloomberg law And KSTP TV in Minnesota.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has historically negotiated consent decrees to force police overhauls in Baltimore, Cleveland and Ferguson, Mo., among others, following similar investigations.

The killing of Mr Floyd, a black man, by Officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020 sparked protests and civil unrest across the country and led to calls for a fundamental rethink or axing of the police force. Mr Floyd’s death, the video of which circulated widely online, led to convictions from across the political spectrum and criminal convictions for the police officers involved, a relatively rare occurrence.

In Minneapolis, long a center of progressive activism, the murder and unrest changed the city. Activists and several city councilors initially called for the abolition of the police force and pledged to make changes to ensure that a similar killing would not happen again. Hundreds of officers left the police station, with some receiving disability benefits for post-traumatic stress they linked to the unrest.

In the years since, the politics of crime and policing have shifted again. Minneapolis voters rejected a ballot measure in 2021 that would have replaced the police with a new public safety agency. Mayor Jacob Frey, who was jeered by protesters in the days following Mr. Floyd when he spoke out against cutting police funding was elected to a second term.

But the troubles of the Minneapolis police department, which had faced protests for other murders in the years before Mr. Floyd’s death, have only become more apparent. Amid uncertainty about the future, the department struggled to retain officers and meet recruiting targets. Concerns about rising crime led some residents to avoid public transportation.

And last year, a Minnesota Department of Human Rights report confirmed what many residents have complained about for years: a police force with a “culture averse to oversight and accountability” that routinely engages in racially discriminatory policing.

Following that report, the state reached a legal settlement with Minneapolis. That agreement, announced earlier this year, included a pledge to curb the use of force and stop using the smell of marijuana as a pretext to search people. It’s not clear if some of those measures will also be included in a future federal consent decree.