The federal consent decree on Minneapolis policing is still on pause. What now? 

Now under its third stay in federal court the U S Department of Justice DOJ consent decree settlement agreement with the Minneapolis Police Department that would legally mandate revision remains in limbo City administrators say the work toward compliance will continue regardless of the pending signature of a federal judge that would give the formal green light for the decree Mayor Jacob Frey has commented he will commit to the terms of the federal consent decree settlement regardless of what happens in court But federal consent decrees do not have a time limit If signed off by the judge this court-enforceable decree could easily continue through multiple local governing administrations For example Seattle was under a consent decree from to There is a clear difference between a promise made by politicians and a legally binding settlement disclosed Michelle Gross president and founder of the nonprofit group Communities United Against Police Brutality The city has a long history of basically checking the box on things and our goal is to do a lot more than that Gross stated The biggest thing is the need for cultural change Is a promise enough If the federal consent decree is signed Minneapolis will be the first city under both a state and federal consent decree Meanwhile the city is just wrapping up its first year under the state settlement agreement it forged with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights MDHR The settlement was reached nearly three years after the murder of George Floyd and the same year the DOJ published a statement finding excessive force and discrimination within MPD against Black and Indigenous people With the MDHR lawsuit the independent monitor Effective Law Enforcement for All is charged with holding the city accountable in its work toward compliance with the settlement Gross noted But without the final signoff on the federal consent decree oversight for the changes called for in that agreement fall on the public Gross isn t confident the federal decree will come to fruition The city fast-tracked the DOJ settlement in January intentionally to try to get the agreement signed before the inauguration of President Donald Trump Trump has long opposed consent decrees calling them a war on police The DOJ that reached the agreement this January under the Biden administration is not the same DOJ that s filing multiple stays I think what s going to end up happening if I had a crystal ball I m going to predict that they were going to withdraw from it she noted of the Trump administration s DOJ As for the promise by the city to comply with the decree regardless of signature Gross commented it s helpful but not for the reasons various would think It becomes a tool for the district They revealed it So here we are with that expectation and we will be holding their doggone feet to the fire you better believe it she declared It s not going to be this check the box business It s going to be real What the city says Just last week Jared Jeffries was named the city s first ever deputy commissioner of the Office of Neighborhood Safety In his new role Jeffries is tasked with overseeing and coordinating the city s locality safety restructuring work including the MDHR settlement agreement the DOJ consent decree and the implementation of the city s Safe and Thriving Communities Plan which outlines policing and general safety changes needed in the city Working with these three major guidelines for police overhaul Jeffries reported a lot of his early work is focused on integrating the reforms Jared Jeffries There s so much overlap there he mentioned I m really making sure that we re fitting the pieces together and really taking advantage of the opportunities that are there to really build what I think is a really unique region safety system Within the last year under the MDHR agreement the city has focused on group engagement to try to inform training and the policies around de-escalation techniques fair enforcement of laws and respect for First Amendment rights Jeffries disclosed The next phase is to implement policies What I think is the most of challenging thing about this work is it s a very long process from when communities give actual feedback to when policies are implemented and when they re fully trained on guidelines he commented I think a lot of people would like there to be automatic change across the department in regards to these policies but the truth is that it does take time In the meantime MPD has focused on values building and setting expectations for changes to come Jeffries commented Use of force is a good example he disclosed We ve been starting to truly move that needle for the last sparse years knowing the direction we are going to have to be going in But in the settlement agreement then the consent decree separately there are specific use-of-force requirements Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O Hara shown during the press conference in January announcing the consent decree agreement The press conference took place before Donald Trump started his second term Credit MinnPost photo by Craig Lassig What happens next It s hard to say when the region will see modification play out in day-to-day policing Jeffries revealed But like Gross he disclosed tangible change comes down to way of life It s no mystery to Jeffries that trust demands to be rebuilt between the locality and MPD This will come from a large number of initiatives within the consent decree along with simple society presence and involvement he explained It s gonna sound a little bit clich but it s gonna be shown through those individual interactions that officers have with neighborhood members he noted So it s not gonna be this one landmark moment because you ve got different officers being trained at different times on different subjects Trust also requires accountability Jeffries noted adding that there are areas where this work is already tangibly being done He pointed to the contemporary separation of the MPD Internal Affairs Department and the Office of Police Conduct Review Before the MDHR settlement agreement the two were intertwined and both could conduct an internal or external complaint analysis Under a new system only the Office of Police Conduct Review can handle external complaints with MPD only handling internal complaints We are now in the process of in fact starting to get to compliance on that Jeffries commented Ultimately Jefferies mentioned the DOJ consent decree would formalize work the city has already been doing He contends that change is being reflected in the latest rise in police recruitment compared to years past though notably the police contract passed last year also offers a sizable pay increase for officers But Jeffries disclosed he believes people are also enticed to join the police force because of restructuring efforts It s no secret in the law enforcement world like what Minneapolis Police and the city is like facing down with these agreements he stated But I think that is encouraging for a lot of officers who are coming from other departments who want to be a part of that In the coming phase of consent decree compliance Jeffries revealed the city is looking at initiative around traffic stops searches and arrest which are covered in both agreements When you re making traffic stops what are you doing differently When you re conducting an probe what are you doing differently That bucket in particular is one where you ll start to see more of those policies and trainings flowing through in year two Jeffries declared The post The federal consent decree on Minneapolis policing is still on pause What now appeared first on MinnPost