Justice Department Reaches Court-Enforceable Police Reform Agreement with Minneapolis
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on January 6, 2025, that it had entered into a court-enforceable consent decree with the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Minneapolis Police Department to resolve the Department's findings of unconstitutional and unlawful policing practices. The decree was filed the same day in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota and is subject to a judge's approval; the Minneapolis City Council voted 12 to 0 the same day to approve its terms.
The Department's investigation, whose findings were announced in June 2023, concluded that the city and its police department engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that includes excessive force, racially discriminatory policing against Black and Native American residents, violations of the public's First Amendment rights, and discrimination against people with behavioral health disabilities, in violation of the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments and federal anti-discrimination laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act. The investigation was conducted by the Civil Rights Division's Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.
The decree sets out a reform roadmap requiring the city and the department to prevent excessive force; stop racially discriminatory policing; improve officers' interactions with youth; protect the public's First Amendment rights; prevent discrimination against people with behavioral health disabilities; promote the well-being of officers and employees; and enhance supervision and accountability. It names the Effective Law Enforcement For All team as independent monitor to assess implementation.
"All eyes remain on Minneapolis, and with this consent decree, we now have a road map for reform that will help this community heal," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, "It was clear that we needed to act now."
The investigation began on April 21, 2021, a day after former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, whose 2020 killing in Minneapolis set off nationwide protests. Minneapolis became the second city to reach such a court-supervised agreement among more than a dozen police department investigations opened by the Biden administration's Justice Department. The Department scheduled a virtual community meeting for the evening of January 14 to present the decree to the public.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：明尼阿波利斯市政厅。（McGhiever 摄，CC BY 2.5，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: Minneapolis City Hall. (Photo by McGhiever, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons)
