Latest news with #MinneapolisPoliceDepartment
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Federal judge approves Trump DOJ motion to scrap consent decree for Minneapolis police
The Trump administration has been granted a motion to end the federal consent decree that sets out reforms for Minneapolis Police Department resulting from a Department of Justice investigation launched after the murder of George Floyd. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson granted the request on Tuesday, dismissing the case with prejudice, meaning it can't be filed again in the future. In the wake of the opinion being issued, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey issued the following statement: "The bottom line is that we are doing it anyway. We will implement every reform in the 169-page consent decree. "Minneapolis is making great progress on police reform, and we don't need permission from Washington or a federal judge to keep pushing forward." Judge Magnuson, a William Mitchell College of Law graduate nominated to the federal court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, said in his opinion that he had "grave misgivings about the proposed consent decree serving the public interest." The consent decree was agreed with the City of Minneapolis under the Biden Administration, which followed an extensive DOJ investigation that concluded Minneapolis Police Department had engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violated the U.S. Constitution and federal civil rights laws. The findings included the use of excessive force, discrimination against Black and Native American people, the violation of the rights people engaged in protected speech, and discrimination against people with disabilities. Magnuson continued to claim the federal consent decree is "superfluous" because MPD is subject to a separate consent decree with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which requires the city and MPD to limit when officers can use force, including chemical irritants and tasers. It also prohibits the use of certain pretext stops, as part of wider reforms to tackle "race-based policing" and protecting the civil rights of the community. "In the Court's view, the considerable sum of taxpayer money allocated for the proposed consent decree's oversight and execution, including paying the monitor $750,000 per year, would better fund hiring police officers to bolster the City's dwindling police force and promote public safety," said Magnuson. The number of sworn police officers in Minneapolis dropped significantly after Floyd's murder by then-Sergeant Derek Chauvin and the riots that followed – with many taking disability payments or early retirement. In 2024, the city recorded its first increase in police officers in five years. It follows a significant increase in funding to MPD since 2020, with the policing budget in Minneapolis rising to just under $230 million in 2025, compared to $180 million in 2022. Advocates say that the federal consent decree and the state consent decree don't completely overlap, and scrapping the federal agreement could leave gaps in reforms and in result in less powerful accountability, the Sahan Journal reports.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Contributor: A perverse end for a tool that polices the police
The Trump administration found a perverse way of marking the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's tragic death on May 25, 2020. Last week, it announced it would withdraw the court order to reform the Minneapolis Police Department, as well as those in a number of other cities. Harmeet K. Dhillon, the head of the Trump Justice Department's civil rights division, made clear that she was looking to end many, if not all, of the federal injunctions aimed at abusive and discriminatory police departments in the United States. It is not as if the problems of police abuse and racist policing have diminished. Statistics continue to show that Black and Latino people are more likely to be stopped by police then white people for the same behavior, more likely to be arrested and more likely to be subjected to police violence. The murder of George Floyd led to protests in all 50 states against police abuses. Legislation for reforming policing was introduced into Congress and passed by the House of Representatives, only to be blocked in the Senate. Some state and local governments adopted reforms, but the impetus for change soon faded. Read more: Thousands nationwide mark the 5th anniversary of George Floyd's murder This has long been the pattern. High-profile incidents such as the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, and the more recent police killings of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., and of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., generate outrage, but meaningful reforms rarely get adopted. The simple reality is that the political process doesn't change policing. Politicians find it more advantageous to be 'tough on crime' than to take on powerful police unions. Instead, what has proved to be an effective tool for police reform is the federal statute that was the basis for court ordered reforms in Minneapolis. The law adopted in 1994, allows the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate police departments and sue local and state governments for 'appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or practice' of unconstitutional violations. This authority has been used to institute reforms in many major city police departments, including in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Newark and New Orleans. Read more: The LAPD is still paying for George Floyd protest tactics. Will lawsuits force change? In most instances cities settle rather than litigate, and a consent decree — a court ordered and court enforceable settlement — is entered into. Usually there is a monitor appointed to oversee the reforms. The federal court can impose sanctions on the state or local government if it does not meet the terms of the agreement. In L.A., the Justice Department investigated and planned to sue the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rampart scandal, in 2000, where police officers were found to have planted evidence on innocent people and lied in court to gain convictions. In June 2001, the city agreed to a consent decree more than 100 pages long. The decree affected almost every aspect of policing in Los Angeles and included a large number of overdue reforms. It created databases to track, among other things, police use of force and police discipline. It required police to record information with regard to every stop. It changed how use of force was to be investigated. It altered control of the anti-gang units; it was an anti-gang unit in the Rampart Division that led to the scandal. It also required regular audits of many aspects of policing. A monitor was appointed and for 12 years, until 2013, a federal judge oversaw its implementation. Read more: Ex-Minneapolis police chief reckons with his department's record before George Floyd's murder The Harvard Kennedy School did a detailed study of the process and found that the consent decree significantly changed policing in Los Angeles. Serious use of force incidents, for example, decreased by 15% while the consent decree was in effect. L.A.'s experience is typical: Consent decrees tend to work in reforming police departments. A study in 2017 supported their use after examining 23 police departments that had been under decrees, finding that "civil rights suits against these departments dropped anywhere from 23 percent to 36 percent after a federal intervention.' Another study found that consent decrees overseen by a monitor led to a 29% decrease in civilian fatalities at police hands. In Minneapolis, the city and what was then the Biden administration Justice Department only came to terms in January, after a multiyear federal investigation found the city's police engaged in rampant abuses. By canceling the consent decree process, the Trump administration is indicating that it will no longer use its authority in such situations. Read more: Preserving the George Floyd protest murals: L.A. arts and culture this week A crucial tool for police reform will be lost. An increase in police violation of rights and police violence, especially against individuals of color, seems inevitable. During the Vietnam War, Vermont Sen. George Aiken is remembered for saying that the United States should simply declare victory and withdraw. The Trump administration is following that playbook when it comes to police wrongdoing, and the consequences are sure to be tragic. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, is an Opinion Voices contributing writer. If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
A perverse end for a tool that polices the police
The Trump administration found a perverse way of marking the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's tragic death on May 25, 2020. Last week, it announced it would withdraw the court order to reform the Minneapolis Police Department, as well as those in a number of other cities. Harmeet K. Dhillon, the head of the Trump Justice Department's civil rights division, made clear that she was looking to end many, if not all, of the federal injunctions aimed at abusive and discriminatory police departments in the United States. It is not as if the problems of police abuse and racist policing have diminished. Statistics continue to show that Black and Latino people are more likely to be stopped by police then white people for the same behavior, more likely to be arrested and more likely to be subjected to police violence. The murder of George Floyd led to protests in all 50 states against police abuses. Legislation for reforming policing was introduced into Congress and passed by the House of Representatives, only to be blocked in the Senate. Some state and local governments adopted reforms, but the impetus for change soon faded. This has long been the pattern. High-profile incidents such as the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, and the more recent police killings of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., and of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., generate outrage, but meaningful reforms rarely get adopted. The simple reality is that the political process doesn't change policing. Politicians find it more advantageous to be 'tough on crime' than to take on powerful police unions. Instead, what has proved to be an effective tool for police reform is the federal statute that was the basis for court ordered reforms in Minneapolis. The law adopted in 1994, allows the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate police departments and sue local and state governments for 'appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or practice' of unconstitutional violations. This authority has been used to institute reforms in many major city police departments, including in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Newark and New Orleans. In most instances cities settle rather than litigate, and a consent decree — a court ordered and court enforceable settlement — is entered into. Usually there is a monitor appointed to oversee the reforms. The federal court can impose sanctions on the state or local government if it does not meet the terms of the agreement. In L.A., the Justice Department investigated and planned to sue the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rampart scandal, in 2000, where police officers were found to have planted evidence on innocent people and lied in court to gain convictions. In June 2001, the city agreed to a consent decree more than 100 pages long. The decree affected almost every aspect of policing in Los Angeles and included a large number of overdue reforms. It created databases to track, among other things, police use of force and police discipline. It required police to record information with regard to every stop. It changed how use of force was to be investigated. It altered control of the anti-gang units; it was an anti-gang unit in the Rampart Division that led to the scandal. It also required regular audits of many aspects of policing. A monitor was appointed and for 12 years, until 2013, a federal judge oversaw its implementation. The Harvard Kennedy School did a detailed study of the process and found that the consent decree significantly changed policing in Los Angeles. Serious use of force incidents, for example, decreased by 15% while the consent decree was in effect. L.A.'s experience is typical: Consent decrees tend to work in reforming police departments. A study in 2017 supported their use after examining 23 police departments that had been under decrees, finding that 'civil rights suits against these departments dropped anywhere from 23 percent to 36 percent after a federal intervention.' Another study found that consent decrees overseen by a monitor led to a 29% decrease in civilian fatalities at police hands. In Minneapolis, the city and what was then the Biden administration Justice Department only came to terms in January, after a multiyear federal investigation found the city's police engaged in rampant abuses. By canceling the consent decree process, the Trump administration is indicating that it will no longer use its authority in such situations. A crucial tool for police reform will be lost. An increase in police violation of rights and police violence, especially against individuals of color, seems inevitable. During the Vietnam War, Vermont Sen. George Aiken is remembered for saying that the United States should simply declare victory and withdraw. The Trump administration is following that playbook when it comes to police wrongdoing, and the consequences are sure to be tragic. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, is an Opinion Voices contributing writer.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Minneapolis man and his two children missing since April 22
A father and his two children are the subjects of an endangered missing persons alert Minneapolis Police Department issued Sunday night. According to MPD, 36-year-old Oystern Talbert and his children, 11-year-old William Talbert and 10-year-old Gabriella Talbert, were last seen near Minneapolis on April 22. The father was allegedly left the mother of the children behind and was planning to travel to Dallas, Texas or Atlanta, Georgia. He was known to be driving a blue and purple Dodge Challenger that was missing the front fender with Texas license plate PMT5490. Anyone with information about their whereabouts is urged to call Hennepin County Dispatch at 952-258-5321.
The Star
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Killing of Black man by white police officer leads to minor changes in U.S. city: report
NEW YORK, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Some things have changed for the better in Minneapolis, Minnesota, since Memorial Day 2020, when a white police officer murdered George Floyd; some have not, reported The Associated Press on Monday. Sunday marked five years since Officer Derek Chauvin used his knee to pin the Black man's neck to the pavement for 9.5 minutes, leading to his death. A tidal wave of racial justice protests erupted in U.S. cities. Demonstrators chanted Floyd's dying words: "I can't breathe." The protests were mostly peaceful at first but some turned violent, and parts of Minneapolis have yet to recover from the rioting, looting and arson. And the city is still struggling to decide what should become of the intersection where Floyd was killed. "The Minneapolis Police Department has faced some changes under court supervision that aim to reduce racial disparities," noted the report. "Violent crime, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and after Floyd's death, is mostly back around pre-pandemic levels, although homicides are inching up." The intersection where a crowd of concerned onlookers urged Chauvin and other officers to heed Floyd's dying cries quickly became known as George Floyd Square. Meanwhile, a majority of City Council members support building a pedestrian-only mall where Floyd drew his final breaths, but Mayor Jacob Frey and many property and business owners oppose the idea of closing the area to all vehicles. Any final decisions remain a long way off. "The slogan 'Defund the Police' caught fire after Floyd's death, but it never came to pass," added the report. "While a majority of council members initially backed the idea, what appeared on the city ballot in 2021 was a more modest attempt to reimagine policing. Voters rejected it."
