CITY COUNCIL RATIFIES AGREEMENT TO REIN IN MPD

By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer

The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to ratify a courtenforceable agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (DHR) to rein in the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).

The agreement, which will address community engagement, use of force and pretextual stops, comes after a two-year-long investigation by the DHR over the MPD’s patterns of racist and misogynistic policing and lack of effective accountability mechanisms.

The investigation was initiated days after George Floyd was murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020.

The City continues to await the findings of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is conducting its own investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department’s patterns of practice. Once the city reaches a consent decree with the DOJ, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights will modify the court-enforceable agreement so that it does not conflict with the consent decree.

The Department of Human Rights engaged community members and police officers in a series of meetings last year, to understand what should be part of the agreement. This agreement, which originated