The administration of Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday thrust its full weight of civil rights authority against the Minneapolis Police Department as it opened a wide-ranging investigation into the agency’s previous 10 years of racial practices.
The salvo came in the form of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights opening an inquiry into the department following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died — according to two autopsies — because of the actions of several of its officers who held Floyd on the ground.
Floyd’s death prompted protests across the metro area that evolved into rioting, arson and looting last week, a pattern that has repeated itself in cities across the nation. The violence in the Twin Cities has subsided, but the outrage against Floyd’s treatment caught on video — a white officer’s knee on his neck for minutes until he went limp — has not ebbed, underscoring the moment as a flashpoint for race relations.
While Tuesday’s action by the Human Rights Department was hooked on Floyd’s death, the investigation will amount to a strip search of the culture of the entire police force for the past decade, according to a picture painted by officials.
“This investigation is different,” Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said, drawing a distinction between ongoing probes, such as the criminal investigation of the officers involved, the murder prosecution by Attorney General Kieth Ellison of former officer Derek Chauvin, and a federal civil rights inquiry into the specific events surrounding Floyd’s death. “This is looking at the system.”
The leverage Lucero has is the Minnesota Human Rights Act, a 50-year-old statute that forms the bedrock of the state’s legal stand against racial discrimination. The hammer that could ultimately be swung would be a court order, or a consent decree between the state and Minneapolis, that would compel — with the force of law — the police department to make what Lucero described as “structural change.”
Lucero did not provide a timeline for how long the process might take. It’s unclear whether the state has ever attempted such reform at such a large and politically potent organization. In other jurisdictions where similar actions have been taken, the process often takes more than a year, but the effects can last decades under the watchful eye of advocates with the ability to get action enforced by a judge.
In what amounts to a statement of probable cause, Lucero wrote that the charge of discrimination was on the basis of race. Floyd was black, and Chauvin, who knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, is white.
But she also wrote there is sufficient information to investigate whether the Minneapolis Police Department “utilizes systemic discriminatory patterns or practices towards people of color, specifically Black community members, on the basis of race and in the area of public services.”
PROBE WELCOMED
Tuesday’s announcement was welcomed by some who have long sought structural and cultural change in not just the Minneapolis Police Department, but in law enforcement agencies across the state.
Justin Terrell, executive director of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, said the probe is “exactly what this community needs” following what he described as “years of gross violations.”
However, he cautioned, promises of reform have been made before, and yet, African-Americans still feel profiled, oppressed and fundamentally unsafe at the hands of police. “This is not the end of the fight,” he said in a news conference that was led by Walz to announce the news.
Benjamin Crump, the attorney representing the Floyd family, tweeted in all caps that the announcement was “very significant!”
The state’s most powerful Republican, state Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said he supports the investigation.
“As Commissioner Lucero said, Minnesota has some of the strongest human rights laws in the country, and a process in place to enforce them,” Gazelka said in a statement. “This is a positive step to allow transparency to help restore trust.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo released the following statement: “The sworn and civilian members of the Minneapolis Police Department remain steadfast in recognizing that service is honorable, and it requires building genuine and authentic relationships with all communities. The authority given to us by the community comes with great responsibility and obligation to always have their best interest at heart. With the assistance of the State Human Rights Commission, we can take an honest examination at systemic barriers that have prevented us from reaching our greatest potential for those we serve.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey welcomed the state’s action.
“For our city to begin healing, we need to deliver justice for George Floyd and his family and enact deep, meaningful policing reforms,” Frey said in a statement. “For years in Minneapolis, police chiefs and elected officials committed to change have been thwarted by police union protections and laws that severely limit accountability among police departments. I welcome today’s announcement because breaking through those persistent barriers, shifting the culture of policing, and addressing systemic racism will require all of us working hand-in-hand.”
Minneapolis police union president Bob Kroll could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
UNION PRESIDENT TARGETED
While the investigation will broadly look at the department’s policies, procedures and practices over the past decade, several key areas are likely to be probed: use of force training and techniques, the effect of not requiring officers to live in the city, the way officers are disciplined, how complaints are handled, whether there is enough civilian oversight of the department, and the prospect of “integrity standards” for officers, to name a few.
And then there’s the politics, culture and tactics of the roughly 800-strong police union, which defends officers accused of misconduct.
Kroll, the outspoken leader of the union who has served since 2015, was the target of growing calls to resign this week.
On Tuesday, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy said Kroll “has failed the Labor Movement and the residents of Minneapolis. Bob Kroll has a long history of bigoted remarks and complaints of violence made against him. As union President, he antagonizes and disparages members of the Black community.”
The Minnesota Nurses Association joined that call Wednesday.
Education Minnesota, the state’s largest teachers union, also called for Kroll to “resign or be removed by his membership.”
On Monday, former Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau tweeted a letter that Kroll wrote to members of the police union and she wrote, “A disgrace to the badge! This is the battle that myself and others have been fighting against. Bob Kroll turn in your badge!”
Kroll wrote in his letter about the hard work of officers during “what everyone except us refuses to call a riot.”
“The politicians are to blame and you are the scapegoats,” Kroll wrote to officers.
PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT
Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said that while reforms are long-term, they’re directly tied to the mass demonstrations of recent days. As they spoke Tuesday, thousands peacefully gathered not far away on the lawn in front of the state Capitol in one of what has become a roving cycle of large gatherings seeking justice for Floyd and an end to needless police killings of black men.
Walz put it this way: “All of us have come to understand we’re not gonna restore peace on our streets by having a bigger group of National Guard show up. We’re not gonna establish peace on our streets by keeping a curfew in place all the time. We’re going to establish peace on our streets when we address the systemic issues that caused it in the first place.”
People with information for the investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department are being asked to contact the Department of Human Rights at 651-539-1100 or mn.gov/mdhr.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ Minnesota State Advisory Committee issued a report in 2018, calling for Minneapolis police to undergo training in use of force, de-escalation and mental health interventions. The findings and recommendations were shared with Minnesota federal and state lawmakers, and law enforcement organizations, according to the commission.
The commission’s Minnesota advisory committee is holding a public meeting on Friday from noon to 1:30 p.m., which people can call into at 800-367-2403 and use confirmation code 6816733; there will be an open public comment period during the meeting. People can also send written submissions to callen@usccr.gov.
