Mayor, Chief: Culture shift long overdue

By Al McFarlane Editor

Following the release of scathing findings about racist and discriminator patterns and practices that violated the US Constitution in Minneapolis and by its police department, Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara met with Black media organizations to deliver the City’s response to damning findings by the United States Department of Justice.

Al McFarlane: Mayor Frey, Give the background, the backstory. What led us to George Floyd’s murder and how did we get to these damning Justice Department findings?

Mayor Jacob Frey:

The impetus for the investigation was the murder of George Floyd three years ago. While that was the impetus, this did not have one exclusive causal connection.

We aren’t just talking about the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin. We are talking about a necessary culture shift that is long overdue, that has needed to be in place for years and generations.

Over the following three years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they would be conducting a patterns-and-practice investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department. From the very beginning they had our full cooperation. The people at the DOJ are experts. They did a deep investigation that was thorough, that was thoughtful and that tackled the specificity of the issues that we need to be focusing on now. They delivered the conclusions of their patternand-practice investigation this morning.

The primary four areas that they were focusing on were: use of force, discrimination, Americans with Disabilities Act violations, and the First Amendment. We want to partner with the DOJ to have deepseated change throughout our Department, not just in the way of a policy on paper, but something that the community feels because that is what true success is going to look like.

Success is not relegated to the signature by a judge at the end of a consent decree process or some confirmation that we have met or have not met compliance standards. Success looks like people on the street in our city feeling safe and even safer when they interact with our Police. We’re wholeheartedly in this mission and we’re not going to quit until every person in this city feels safe.

Freddie Bell, KMOJ:

The extent to which the details of these four points were laid out, it seems like there’s nothing short of dismantling the Department and starting from the ground up. Will it go that far or what does it look like in rebuilding and rebuilding the trust not only within the ranks but within the community?

Mayor Frey: The work is making sure that officers understand what is expected of them through that policy change, that they’re trained in on how to respond to that policy change, and then ultimately that they’re held accountable if they don’t live up to the standards that are set through that policy change. And having that shift of culture and of policy embedded in the Department is the part that we’re working on the most right now Jiahong Pan, MN Spokesman-Recorder: After May 25th, 2020, Police Officers stopped collecting race data on who they were stopping because there was a trend that showed that they were stopping Black and Native Americans more often than they were stopping white people. Are you going to fire anyone who this report reveals violated federal law?

Mayor Frey: That’s something that we need to fix. That’s one of the issues that I too was concerned about. Chief O’Hara: Problems around data collection are very common problems in police departments. They become highlighted with the very few police departments that are subjected to this level of scrutiny. I just learned about this issue with data collection and race during stops. And when I learned about it, I learned that one of the options officers have is to select that the race is unknown.

Nexus Community Partners, launched the $50 million Open Road Fund, a wealthbuilding community resource for descendants of the Atlantic Slave Trade living in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Money provided by the Bush Foundation, the fund invited eligible Black residents to apply for $50,000 grants starting Juneteenth Day, June 19th.

The $50 million fund seeks to help the Black community cultivate wealth and prosperity.

Open Road Fund is a community resource granting $50 million to Black folks in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota in order to create tangible pathways to liberation, prosperity, and healing on our own terms.

Though not labeled as reparations because the Fund’s resources cannot correct all of the harm done to Black people over the last 400 years, this

$50 million resource is seen as one way to help the Black community cultivate wealth and prosperity, Nexus says.

“Through this $50 million Open Road Fund, Nexus has a chance to provide a return on the investment Black folks have long made to this country and create Black wealth. To us, Black wealthbuilding is about creating spaces and opportunities that help all Black people to thrive,” said Repa Mekha, president and CEO of Nexus Community Partners. “When we have access to an abundance of resources, we can cultivate healing, safety, care and liberation on our own terms.”

There are no income caps or minimums and Black people, age 14 and up, especially formerly incarcerated people, single parents, senior citizens, those living with disabilities, LGBTQ+ are encouraged to

MNJRC highlights report

findings that Minneapolis and Police Department violated US Constitution

Justin Terrell, Executive Director of the Minnesota Justice Research Center (MNJRC), said, “Department of Justice’s multi-year investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and the City of Minneapolis uncovered significant systemic problems within MPD in violation of the US Constitution. These findings have initiated the creation of an agreement between the parties, with – communities across Minneapolis. This is an allhands on deck moment where the community, state, and federal government are on board with focus to address what is ailing policing in Minneapolis. We strongly encourage Mayor Jacob Frey and the Minneapolis City Council to join this movement to transform how public safety is decided, implemented, and achieved in Minneapolis.

Department of Justice Findings:

Minneapolis police officers engaged in a “pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.” known as a consent decree.

Minneapolis police unlawfully discrimination against Black and Native American people. Police shootings between January 2016 and August 2022, reflect unconstitutional uses of deadly force.

Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd, used excessive force previously in incidents where other M.P.D. officers stood by and did not stop him. Minneapolis violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against people with behavioral health disabilities.

Minneapolis officers routinely failed to take seriously health complaints of people they arrested.

Minneapolis officers made degrading comments about Black people.

71 percent of traffic stops before George Floyd’s death had race data, compared with about 35 percent after. The department stopped collecting the data.

Officers routinely violate the First Amendment rights of demonstrators and journalists at protests.

“The Minnesota Justice Research Center welcomes this news and calls upon leaders within both the City and MPD to take this historic opportunity to re-imagine policing in – and

“The DOJ’s announcement makes Minneapolis the first city police department in American history to be subjected to both state and federal consent decrees in