The report paints a gruesome picture of police in Minneapolis, where Lucero says blacks make up about 19 percent of the population, but 78 percent of all police searches from 2017 to 2020 involve blacks and their vehicles.
Lucero told a news conference she had a “productive conversation” about the findings during a meeting with city officials on Wednesday.
“We have a hell of a lot of work to do as a city. We have a hell of a lot of work to do in this nation,” Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters on Wednesday afternoon, saying he had read the report.
“I found the content disgusting, at times horrifying. They made me sick and angry, and I think our community feels the same way.
He called for a “complete change of culture” in the police and added: “We need to fix this.”
Speaking at a press conference with the mayor and other city leaders, Minneapolis Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman said: “Although we have not yet had the opportunity to fully absorb this report, the issues raised are of deep concern to all before you today. .
“We will review this report in collaboration with city officials and community members to ensure we have a clear understanding of every issue raised,” she added. let’s move forward at this point to build a stronger department. We are committed to providing an effective constitutional police service, a service that people in our community want and need and deserve. “
Lawyers representing the families of Floyd and Amir Locke, another black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police, praised the findings as “historic” and “monumental.”
“We hope this will bring the city and the police department under a state decree of consent, which will finally give us confidence that a real change in the police is possible and Minneapolis can become a safer city for its black residents.” , said Ben Crump and co-counselors Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms.
Consent decrees are judicial agreements aimed at reforming police departments.
“We are grateful and deeply hope that change is possible and inevitable,” the statement said. “We call on city, state and police leaders to take up the challenge of these findings and finally make a significant change to build trust between Minneapolis-colored communities and those who have vowed to protect and serve them.”
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights said on its website that it will meet with community members, MPD officials, city officials and other stakeholders to gather feedback on what should be included in a decree agreeing to tackling racial discrimination in Minneapolis police.
Discriminatory police are widespread, the report said
Lucero said discriminatory police against blacks and the local community were widespread.
“We found these models all over the city, so none of this can be explained or excused from one section,” she said.
Employees are 12% more likely to stop a vehicle occupied by people of color or indigenous people when it is light outside and employees are more likely to see people racing in the car, the report said.
The report also cites “consistent” use of “racist, misogynistic and disrespectful language” by officials.
Much of the report focuses on the use of force.
“Since 2010, of the 14 people killed by MPD employees, 13 have been colored or indigenous,” the report said.
Redskins and Indigenous people make up approximately 42% of Minneapolis’ population, but make up 93% of all deaths involving MPD officers between January 1, 2010 and February 2, 2022.
The report accuses the department of “insufficient training, which emphasizes the paramilitary approach to the police, which leads to unnecessary escalation of clashes or the use of inappropriate levels of force.”
A senior police officer told investigators that officers often arrested and cited people with obstruction or hooliganism “for things that could fall into the category of likely irritating police,” the report said.
The report cites “the use of covert social media by officers to monitor black people and black non-criminal organizations.”
In one case, the report said, an employee used a “secret” social media account posing as a black man to send a message to the local NAACP branch. Officers also used similar accounts to impersonate residents attacking police critics and local officials.
“Dozens and dozens” of interviewed officers
The investigation began with a complaint against the city on June 1, 2020 from the Ministry of Human Rights to determine whether the police participated in a “model or practice” of racial discrimination. The investigation found just that.
The 72-page report is based on a decade-long findings, including interviews with “dozens and dozens” of officers of all ranks, approximately 700 hours of camera footage carried by the body, and statements by residents.
The state received an interim injunction in 2020 requiring the city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis police to implement immediate changes – including a ban on neck and suffocation and requiring employees to intervene in unauthorized use of force by other employees, including other changes.
The US Department of Justice launched its own investigation into Minneapolis police practices in April 2021.
Investigations into the model or practice of police departments are relatively unusual and look for patterns of racist, discriminatory or otherwise problematic behavior in order to reconsider the way these departments work.
The state investigation began exactly one week after a cameraman and videos of a passer-by captured the last moments of Floyd’s life on May 25, 2020. The video shows a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck and back of a 46-year-old black man for more than nine minutes while Floyd gasped and told the police, “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death and the video sparked lengthy protests across the country over police brutality and racial injustice.
This officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted in April 2021 of second-degree manslaughter, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Now the former cop is appealing the verdict on the grounds that the proceedings have been tainted, with his lawyer referring in part to the city’s announcement during the jury’s selection that he would pay $ 27 million to settle the Floyd family. Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison, which exceeds the Minnesota sentence of 10 years and eight months to 15 years. As part of a plea agreement, Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to federal civil rights charges related to Floyd’s death and the detention of a teenager in a separate incident. Three other officers were convicted in February of violating Floyd’s civil rights by a federal jury in St. Paul, Minnesota.
In Locke’s case, prosecutors last month refused to press charges against a Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot dead a 22-year-old man or other officers involved in the strike service, which led to Locke’s death in early February.
A police officer shot Locke within seconds of entering an apartment after prosecutors said Locke came out of the couch with a gun and pulled him up to a police officer. A police officer and others from the Minneapolis SWAT team were there, handing out a warrant to investigate the murder.
CNN’s Brad Parks contributed to this report.
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