The investigation by Minnesota state authorities after the murder of George Floyd finds a “pattern or practice” of discrimination.
The Minneapolis Police Department has engaged in an unlawful “pattern or practice” of racial profiling, according to a state investigation that began after George Floyd was killed. killed by an officer in the American city in 2020.
In a report released Wednesday detailing the findings of a nearly two-year investigation, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights concluded that Minneapolis police have discriminated against black people over the past decade.
Officials said they would seek to enter into a court-ordered agreement with the city of Minneapolis to stop the practices and implement changes to the police department that require independent oversight.
“Race-based surveillance is illegal and harms everyone, especially people of color and members of the indigenous community, sometimes costing community members their lives,” said Rebecca Lucero, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, in a statement. statement.
The department began its investigation after former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin pinned his knee to Floyd’s neck for several minutes as the unarmed black man lay handcuffed and face down on the pavement in May 2020.
The incident sparked nationwide protests against racism and police brutality, and Chauvin was convicted of murder last year.
Three other officers were convicted in federal court earlier this year of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
The Department of Human Rights said Wednesday in its 75-page report that Minneapolis police arrest and use force against people of color, particularly black people, more often than against white people in similar settings.
Minneapolis police also use covert social media to monitor Black people and Black organizations that are not associated with any criminal activity.
The investigation also found that city police consistently use racist, misogynistic, and disrespectful language; officers and supervisors receive poor training that emphasizes a paramilitary approach, and there is no accountability for officers who engage in misconduct.
Minneapolis Police Created Fake Social Media Accounts and Posed as Members of the Public to Criticize Elected Officials and Surveillance Black Organizations and Activists *Without a Public Safety Goal*, Department of Human Rights Investigation Finds of the state. pic.twitter.com/pdIa9BVlmn
—Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) April 27, 2022
In addition, they said former and current Minneapolis leaders “collectively have failed to act with the urgency, coordination and intentionality necessary to address racial disparities in policing to improve public safety and increase community trust.”
State investigators reviewed a decade of data on traffic stops, searches, arrests and use-of-force incidents, and examined policies and training. They invited citizens to submit their own stories of encounters with the Minneapolis police.
Minneapolis city council members and residents had pushed to replace the department with a new public safety unit that would take a public health approach to policing, including removing a required minimum number of police officers.
but local voters rejected the proposal last year.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, before they retired in January, said they were making changes to the department, including requiring officers to document attempts to de-escalate situations and no longer stop motorists for minor traffic violations.
But anger against the police flared up again in February when Minneapolis police officers serving a warrant without knocking shot and killed Amir Lockea 22-year-old black man who was sleeping on a couch in his cousin’s apartment at the time of the shooting.
tax refused to charge the officer who shot Locke, saying body camera video showed him pointing a gun at the officer, a claim Locke’s family has disputed. Since then, the city has banned warrants except in the most extreme circumstances, like a hostage situation.
The United States Department of Justice is also investigating police practices in Minneapolis.