4 years later, George Floyd's murder leads Minneapolis police to take on reform
The Minneapolis City Council has approved a consent decree agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that will implement major reform within the Minneapolis Police Department. Per the agreement, it will be carried out under the watch of an appointed, independent court monitor.
The agreement comes after a two-year investigation from the DOJ into the MPD's patterns and practices. The investigation was prompted in part by the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, which sparked racial justice and anti-police brutality protests nationwide.
The Justice Department released its findings in a report in 2023.
It found that the Minneapolis Police Department was engaged in a pattern of discriminatory law enforcement practices, used unjustified deadly force in encounters with suspects, engaged in unreasonable use of force in encounters with young suspects, and at times failed to give proper medical aid to people they had taken into custody.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division spoke on the findings at a press conference Monday, hours after the consent decree was announced.
"The decree sets forth remedies to address the problems identified in our findings," Clarke said.
She identified some of those the remedies as: limiting use of force, closely regulating or eliminating some types of force altogether, and adopting a system to thoroughly and regularly evaluate uses of force; ensuring officers intervene to prevent unlawful uses of force and seek prompt medical care as needed; avoiding unnecessary stops by focusing traffic enforcement on improving public safety; protecting journalists from retaliation by law enforcement while safeguarding their access to demonstrations; and limiting the use of police officers in health-related cases.
She explained that the decree established four core goals: constitutional policing, strengthening trust and public confidence in law enforcement, promoting public safety, and ensuring freedom from discrimination and bias.
"With this consent decree we now have a roadmap for reform," she added, calling it a "critical step forward" in the city's efforts to enforce constitutional policing.
She called on the community to continue making suggestions for the police department to improve, above and beyond the perimeters of the consent decree.
"All eyes remain on Minneapolis," Clarke said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also attended the briefing on Monday. He called the murder of George Floyd "a tragedy that resonated across the globe," while noting that it was "felt most acutely by Black residents of Minneapolis."
Of the consent decree, Frey said, "This legally binding agreement will give the city the tools and the clarity we need as we work to build trust and accountability in our communities."
"There aren't any shortcuts, and success is not guaranteed; we'll have to work for it," he said, calling for cooperation among the community, law enforcement and government officials.
Frey added that the institutional issues at play did not begin with Floyd's murder, and the work will be an ongoing process, as well.
"Our administration will wake up every morning and got to bed every night with the clear goals in mind that we need to hit," Frey said, affirming that the city's commitment to change would be "permanent," not just confined to the decree's length.
The event was also attended by Chief Brian O’Hara of the Minneapolis Police Department, who called the decree an "opportunity" to not only comply with its terms but to exceed expectations.
"Together we will make Minneapolis a place where everyone feels safer and where they know that Minneapolis cops have their back," he said.
The DOJ's 2023 report found that "the systemic problems in MPD made what happened to [Floyd] possible," and such problems had continued despite reform efforts.
"We also found that MPD officers routinely disregard the safety of people in their custody. Our review found numerous incidents in which MPD officers responded to a person saying that they could not breathe with a version of, 'You can breathe, you're talking right now,'" said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Garland cited a case from 2017 during which an MPD officer shot and killed an unarmed woman who he said had "spooked him" when she approached his squad car.
"The woman had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in a nearby alley," he said.
MPD officers were also found to stop, search and use force against people who are Black and Native American at disproportionate rates, according to the report.
MPD is already under a consent decree from the state to "make transformational changes to address race-based policing," following a 2023 agreement between the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the City of Minneapolis.
The human rights agency described the consent decree as "a court-enforceable agreement that identifies specific changes to be made and timelines for those changes to occur."
In 2022, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights similarly found that the Minneapolis Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. This led to a state consent decree agreement that is ongoing.
The decree still needs to go through other levels of approval, including the mayor's office, before it is filed in federal court, according to Council President Elliott Payne.
"On behalf of the council and the entire city, I'd like to thank our community for standing together united in this and for having patience with us as we have traveled a very, very long and challenging journey," said Payne. "We are just beginning and we know we have a long way to go."
ABC News' Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
